Scars
by Tobina
Summary: Let's just say, the tennis racket in ch. 825 (Ep705) hit Conan-kun a little harder as in the manga and he is still unconscious when they reach the house. What will happen when Ran remembers all the little – and not so little – accidents of Conan. What if she discovers a scar which she remembers belonging to someone else? Rated T just to be save for upcoming chapters. ShinichiXRan
1. Scars and scratches

I'm leaving out the movies and I mostly take the events based on the manga, not the anime.

I'll stick with –kun, -chan, -san in direct speech, because I'm used to it by looking the Japanese episodes and it sounds strange to me without. I also like how it shows the various relationships between the characters.

WARING! My English may contain some mistakes in grammar and/or spelling, because I am no native speaker. Feel free to tell me by PM if you find something that's bothering you and I will fix it ;D

Takes place along with the manga chapter 825.

Let's just say, the tennis racket hit Conan-kun a little harder as in the manga and he is still unconscious when they reach the house of Momozono-san. What will happen when Ran remembers all the little – and not so little – accidents of Conan.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter one**  
**Scars and scratches**  
~ooOO-OOoo~

Silently she looked at the small form lying on the bed.

The doctor had just left and recommended that Conan should take the rest he needed, after reassuring Ran that there was nothing to worry about.

Conan might have a little head-ache when he wakes up. If anything else occurs, they should just give him a call and he will come around.

"Pfuhh Conan-kun – you really tend to get hurt." Ran muttered to herself.

She sat down by the bed and wiped some fringes out of his face. Just then she recognized how sweaty he was. '_Probably from the tennis-match earlier'_.

She got out a tissue and dabbed it gently on his forehead. His blue polo-shirt was damp and stuck on his body. '_I think we should get you out of this, or you will catch a cold.'_

She went down the stairs to the living room where the others were gathered and stepped to Momozono. Her father looked at her. "How is the little brat?"

"Otou-san! Don't call him like that! He is still sleeping. Momozono-san do you have by any chance a shirt he can lend out? His own is all sweaty from our tennis-match and I don't want him to become ill."

"Uhm – you're lucky! I have some spare clothes here for my nephew when he uses the tennis-court. One moment – I'll get one for you."

She left the room and came back some minutes later with a small green t-shirt in her hands, which she handed to Ran.

"I think it should fit him, since my nephew is about his height."

Ran took the shirt and did a quick bow. "Thank you very much! I'll go back to Conan-kun and change him."

After closing the door and carefully avoiding any loud noises, she returned to the bedside and looked at her little charge.

_'Still fast asleep – so let's get this done without disturbing him.'_

First she took off his glasses, which he was still wearing – as usual. She sat down beside him and lifted his upper body with both hands, supporting his back and head.

Scooting behind him she let him rest against her and reached for the seam of his shirt.

Slowly she brought it up and pulled his little arms through the sleeves, followed by his head - avoiding to touch the big band-aid right over his left eyebrow.

Again she let him sink against her chest and was about to reach out for the new shirt, when her gaze fell on his now uncovered skin.

She could see – no imagine several traces of long since healed wounds.

Aside from the normal scratches a child his age would bring home from playing, running and falling, she knew that he had suffered some more serious.

_'And for sure not caused from normal 'child-stuff'.'_

The latest band-aid she had just removed yesterday. It had been on his right elbow over a scratch from what he said had been _"An earlier tumble". _

But she had seen how he bumped against the wall, after kicking a soccer ball at the criminal who was threatening Sonoko and holding his arm afterwards.

So again his had been hurt because he went against a criminal and tried to protect others.

It had not been the first time.

The day she had first met him, he went off all by himself to search for the kidnapped girl. What was her name again? Oh right - Tani Akiko. When Ran had finally found the two kids by following the dog, Conan had been really badly beaten up by the culprit.

He'd scraped his whole forearm, as he rescued Ai from the bus, which was going to explode. He had tried to hide it from her, but she'd noticed it right away.

When this crazy serial killer had attacked her, he stepped right in front of her without even thinking a second for his own safety and nearly got stabbed.

She looked down at the soft rosy skin of the child's stomach and could almost see the sore red spot the knife had left - just stopped by the small link of the handcuff-chain in the lucky charm.

She sighed.

A little round area of skin - lightly brighter than the rest - caught her attention.

_'This one is from the bullet these gruesome men fired at him in the cave.' _

She still could feel the fear that had made tears well up when she saw him on the stretcher on the way to the operating room.

She had been so certain this time that he was Shinichi, (although she had been disabused later) that she just _knew_ that their blood would match.

She had been so close to lose him.

This thought made her shiver and without being aware of it, she started to run her fingers through the hair of his bangs – trying to comfort him.

In the middle of her movements she stopped.

Her fingers felt something in the center of his hairline, right there where the strands of his fringe began.

She shifted him a little to her left side to get a better view and stroke his hair backwards and took a close look, just to discover a thin line – a scar.

Her eyes widened.

Pictures flooded her mind.

There was no mistaken. The form, the position - she _knew_ this scar!

The pictures showed a little boy at her side. Maybe seven years old with brown hair and bright blue eyes.

It could have been Conan but the glasses were missing and above all, she was eye to eye with him without kneeling down.

They were remarkably similar, especially when Conan was without his glasses, which he was wearing day and night.

But right now, when she was looking at his bare face, she saw straight at the face of her memorized picture.

A picture of..."Shinichi!"

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**A/N: **So, this is my first chapter of my first story in English! I hope you enjoyed it!? The plot for the second is already done and I'm busy with writing.  
I hope you stay tuned and that I "see" ya in the next chapter :D


	2. Hero of the day

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter two**  
**Hero of the day**  
ooOO-OOoo

Flashback

It had been an exhausting day. They had followed the clues of the "school-ghost", which lead them to a wonderful sunset.

Ran was very happy that during this she had been able to convince Shinichi that calling each other by first names was absolutely all right.

So now she hopped up the stairs to the agency cheerfully, with Shinichi behind her.

Agasa Hakase had been so kind to bring them both to the agency.

Since Shinichi's mom was not at home and his father had to keep the deadline for his manuscript, it had been decided that Yukiko would fetch him after her meeting.

"It was so exiting! First thing tomorrow I will put the message in the wallet," Ran said turning back to Shinichi. "It was very nice of your…kyaaaAAA!"

Missing the next step, she tripped and was falling backwards with her arms spread out – trying to regain her balance.

Immediately Shinichi jumped forward to catch her.

He gave her a push on the back, which sent her to her hands and knees, but prevented her from falling down the stairs.

At that, his own foot slipped and he crushed face forward on the edge of the step.

He let out a scream and tumbled a few steps down before he lay still.

Ran whimpered a little as she hit her knee, but when she heard his scream and the thuds behind her she spun around and saw her friend laying there - unmoving.

The first second she was frozen, but then she raced down to him and knelt by his side.

"Shi-Shinichi! _Shinichi!_ Wake up!"

Tears of shock and fear ran down her cheeks, as she called his name repeatedly.

Blood poured down from a wound on his head, creating red traces on his face. The amount of blood scared her to the bone, as she kept on crying out his name.

Alerted from the noise in the staircase, her mother Eri dashed through the door.

"Ran! What happened? Are you…" She stopped when she caught sight of the unconscious boy next to her daughter and sprinted down the stairs.

Quickly she examined him, pulled her cell phone out and dialed the number for the ambulance.

ooOO-OOoo

His head hurt. It hurt _a lot!_

Nonetheless he decided it was worth a try to open his eyes, to find out _why _he felt like his skull was split in two.

'_Ok – let's see. White ceiling, smell of medicine and something beeping beside me. Oh, just great...it must be a hospital,'_ he groaned to himself.

The pain faded slowly, but left an unnerving throbbing.

Carefully he turned his head to the side where he located the beeping tone coming from.

He still felt a bit dizzy and it took his eyes a moment to focus.

Next to his bed was a chair with a book placed upon and a jacket hung over the back.

He recognized the jacket right away and he knew what would happen the second the owner of it would return.

At that precise moment someone opened the door and stepped into the room.

The womans expression changed from concerned to relieved and then to a bright smile, when she met his gaze.

"Shin-chan! You're awake!"

Yukiko rushed over to his bed and hugged her son tightly.

"I was so worried! Don't do that ever again!"

He panted and tried to loosen her hug a little.

"Kaa-san! You're strangulating me! Let go!"

Hesitantly she gave him room to breathe and looked at him intently.

"How are you feeling sweetie? You got a really bad bump on your cute little head."

'_Ah – explains the headache.' _He reached up to find out how bad it was.

"Oh please don't freak out, but they had to shave some hair to stitch up the wound.  
But it will grow in no time – don't worry!"

He looked at her dumbfounded.

"They shaved my hair? Oh man I will look ridiculous!"

"Don't say that! My son never looks ridiculous! Well, I'll go and get the doctor so he can have a look at you. Just stay put!"

With that she was on the door again, but turned around before she left him and smirked.

"You're the hero of the day! Your little girlfriend will be overjoyed to see her savior save and sound!"

With a giggle she left and he sank against his pillow with a sigh.

"She is not my girlfriend," he growled silent.

ooOO-OOoo

The next day he was released from the hospital and two days later he went to school again – with a cap on his head.

But his fears had been unfounded.

His classmates were very impressed of the stitched up wound and Shinichi showed it to them like a trophy.

Right at his side stood Ran. She almost clung to him since the accident – always anxious that he was alright.

"Ran! You don't have to stick on me all day! I promise you, I'm fine!"

"But you're hurt because of my clumsiness! I want to make it up to you!"

He rolled his eyes, "It was not your fault. Unless you were stumbling with intention - stop blaming yourself!"

Then he grinned at her, "Wanna see it? They had to make seven stitches!"

He began to pull on the band-aid.

"Uuhrg…Shinichi – No! I don't want to see it! That's gross!"

"Come on! Don't be a baby! See – it just looks like the second kanji of my name!  
It is a perfect " 一" (speak: ichi) and they said it will remain as a scar!" he proclaimed proudly.

"Be glad that you won't be able to see it all day, since your hair will cover it.  
And now put that band-aid back on! I still think it is gross!"

Flashback end

* * *

**A/N:** So a little excursion in the past to explain the scar. Oh, if you don't remember the chapter I refered to: it's 572+573.  
I really love this one - it is so cute! ^_^

Thanks for your support by reviews/favs/follows! I really appreciate it! Since it is my first try for such a long story it will keep me going!


	3. What if it's true?

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter three**  
**What if it's true?**  
ooOO-OOoo

She had never noticed this scar on Conan before. Not even while she had checked his temperature when he had been ill.

But at those times she'd had other things in mind. Like: how high is his fever, should she call a doctor…

She simply did not pay attention.

'_How can that be possible? How can two different people look so alike _and _share the same scar?'_

The answer was very easy: It was _not _possible!

But that left her with a new problem – no – with _many _new problems!

'_People don't change back to her child bodies just like that! That is absolutely absurd! If anyone would tell me something like that, I would doubt his sanity.'_

It was not the first time that she thought about this.

Every time when she had been sure that Conan was Shinichi, it was the one thing that she could not figure out.

But somehow it must be exact what had happened.

'_But how? There is no illness or anything like that which will display even close symptoms '_

Her thoughts went back to the dinner with Shinichi in the Beika Building and her speculations she told him.

'_What if it's true?  
What if Agasa Hakase did something to shrink him - to protect him?'_

She was no scientist, so she would not know what he was able to do with all his chemicals and strange looking machines.

Back then she had made fun of herself and shrugged off the topic, too curious to know what he wanted to tell her.

Ran felt her heart race, as one after one memory of Conan and she appeared and she replaced Conan with Shinichi.

As an only child she had loved to take care of the little boy that seemed to be sent to her as a substitute for her gone childhood-friend.

With his beaming face he'd helped her though many sad hours. And his caring words made her feel loved, when she'd thought _he_ was far away.

She had told him almost _everything!_ He was like her little brother – wait – _had been_ like her little brother.

She would not be able to treat him like before.

It was embarrassing enough what had happened so far.

But what now? Should she tell him bluntly that she knew? She had done that before and it went not well at all.

Every single time something occurred to stop her suspicions.

Like Conan and Shinichi together in one room, or a phone call just in time.

'_Hmm…think I have a lot to clear up here.'_

Her gaze fell on the bullet wound once again and she gulped.

He had been shot. _Shinichi _had been shot!

All this scratches and wounds she just had compiled – _he_ had suffered them!

She had not only been close losing her little brother, she had been close losing _him!_

She tightened her grip on the boy in her lap, as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Shinichi!"

...

"Hmm…? What is it Ran? Did I fell down the stairs again?" a small weak voice mumbled.

Her eyes shot open again. Her breath caught in her throat.

It was true!

'_It is really him!'_

What should she do now? Laugh it off, or confront him? Run for it, or kick his ass?

He shifted in her grip and then he tensed up. Leaning his head back, he looked at her with horrified wide blue eyes.

She wasn't able to bring her expression back from shock to a smile fast enough, so the decision was taken from her.

'_Ok, so I don't have to hide it. It's written all over his guilty face. He knows that I know.'_

Confused by her own thoughts she shook her head and noticed that she was still holding him.

Holding _him!_

She blushed deep and let go hastily. Let him nearly just fall on his pillow, before she remembered his injury.

"So- Sorry! I just…you were…"

He sighed, "It's ok Ran. I think it is about time that I tell you."

His voice seemed to be an octave deeper than usual - the childish undertone completely gone.

The missing –neechan on her name made it even more real for her.

He locked his eyes with hers, as if he tried to tell her everything through this one look.

Leaning back he broke into a small unsure smile.

"But please, before I do so – could you get me a headache pill or something?  
I don't think I will make it without, since my head seems to fall apart and our little talk will take some time."

His face showed a painful expression and he hissed as he touched the band-aid.

"Su-Sure!" she stuttered as her caring instincts kicked in. She stood up and went to the door.

"Don't run away! I will be right back!" Her mind settled down a bit. "And I am very curious about what you'll have to tell me. It'll better be really good!"

She closed the door, leaving behind a not so happy looking boy and went down in the living room, to get some medicine from Momozono for him.

She did not notice the silent figure standing in the poorly lit corridor, a with water and tea loaded tray in hands.

She also missed the calculating look on the figures face, which altered to a malignant grin.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks to the easter-holiday I have a lot of time to write *yeay* After them my upload-speed may come down a bit. Sorry for that but I have a fultime job and a houshold to do. I think my man would appreciate some time with me too :)) But I'll try to upload once a week or even more.

And thank you again for your reviews/favs/follows. You really help me doing this!


	4. Pleased to meet you

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter four**  
**Pleased to meet you**  
ooOO-OOoo

_'Man – how could I slip up so badly?'_ he thought, putting on the clean shirt.  
_'This damn racket must have hit me very hard, that I have been so off. I was even too dizzy to talk her out of it. Think I have to deal with it now. If just my head wouldn't hurt so much and the room would stop spinning…'_

Waiting for Ran and the hopefully strongest painkillers she could find, he was left there with his thoughts. And knowing what kind of conversation was coming up, that meant his mind was in a bad uproar.

How should he start this?

To understand him fully, he would have to tell her everything from the start and give her some detailed information. But the story was long and he was afraid that patience was nothing she had to offer right now.

Maybe he should lock the door when she was back, so she could not run away madly...

Bad idea – a furious Ran in a locked room? Just the thought of it was terrifying.

Using his tranquilizer-gun-watch when she would try to leave? That would be even worse.

_'She would kill me the moment she wakes up. I'm afraid all I can do is to pray that she is willing to hear me out.' _

He let out a very heavy breath, as the door opened again.

_'So here we go!'_

Looking at the entering person he was surprised – it was not Ran.

Pushing the door open with his back, Amuro Touru turned around with a tray in his hands.

He had changed out of his tennis-dress into blue jeans and a black polo-shirt.

"Good to see you awake again! Momozono-san is sending water and tea. Do you like some?"

Conan needed a second to process that he was given a respite until he'll have to face his likely doom. But then he slipped into his child-role without even thinking about it.

"Uhm, thank you very much niisan! Some water would be great!"

_'I hope this niisan/neechan habit will not remain when I'm my old self again. Would be very embarrassing,'_ he thought wincing inwardly.

Amuro placed the tray on the bedside table and filled a glass with water.

Handing it to Conan he smiled, "You really scared your neechan, but I presume that you are better now, since she did not call for the doctor again."

Knowing to whom he was speaking, Conan felt really uncomfortable with this guy, but held up his cheery childish tone, "Yes! My head still hurts a bit, but Ran-neechan brings me some medicine, so it will go away!"

"I see! Your neechan is very kind, isn't she?" he asked while taking Conans glasses, which still lay on the nightstand beside the tray and turned them in his hands.

_'Shit! Ran took them off to change me and I was so focused on what I should tell her, that I forgot them completely!'_

"Since Momozono-san ran out of painkillers suitable for kids, she went out to buy some for you."

_'No need for the trouble. I would have preferred the adult-stuff anyway!' _Conan though._  
_

"I think she will be away a bit longer, so the two of us can have a little chat. What do you think about it _boy_?"

_'Was it my imagination or did he intonate the word "boy" with a dangerous tone? He could not know – how should he? I think I'm still a bit dazed' _"Sure niisan! Do you have something in mind? I've seen you like tennis. I prefer soccer but tennis is also fun!"

"Oh yes! I've played tennis as a semi-professional. I've done pretty well, but I had to slow it down because of an injury. Nowadays I play just for fun. So you like soccer. Is Mori-san playing with you often?"

"No, ojisan is not good at soccer at all. Also he has no time to play around, because he has to solve so many cases!"

Amuro touched his chin, "Hmm…yes his cases. But don't you think that he seems clueless often? I know – I am still just his apprentice, but he seems – yes, let's call it _dense_ to me most of the time."

_'Not good! No way would he speak like that with a child. I have to be careful.' _"You think so niisan? But he solves all his cases! So how could you call him with such a mean word? Ran-neechan told me not to use such words, because they are hurting people," Conan frowned.

"She is a very polite and clever girl. Oh, by the way: You should tell her not to use such a predictable password for her computer like her birthday, because this is _not _clever. And tell Kogoro-san that 5563 for 'Go-Go-Ro-San' is creative and funny, but not very safe. In particular if you tell it to everybody who is asking for it."

Conan paled. Kogoro gave his password to this guy of all people?

Amuro leaned closer to Conan, "Yes, he told me – just like this!" He snapped his fingers.

"Do you still think that he is not dense?" The blond smirked and standing straight again he continued turning Conans glasses.

"You know – I think it's kind of funny. You are wearing these glasses all the time, pretending you are almost blind without them, but right now you don't seem to have any difficulties seeing me. And on top…" he put on the glasses "…they don't have any optical power. Why could that be?"

Now Conan was definitely alerted. This was a member of the Black Organisation and he was more than suspicious of his alias Edogawa Conan.

Trying not to draw the attention of the man, he reached for his tranquilizer-gun-watch.  
_'Maybe I'm a little bit deranged at the moment, but I will NOT sit here and wait for him to…'_

"I would stop that if I were you," Amuro spoke calmly and pointed a gun with a silencer to Conans head. "You already have a headache and we don't want it to become worse, right?"

Conan growled slightly, but stopped to move, while Amuro reached out for the watch and took a close look at it.

"What an interesting design. I don't think you can buy this sort of watch everywhere." He put the watch in his trouser pocket without lowering the gun.

"I thought you were fascinating since we first met. You are way too observant and smart for a child of your age. Not afraid of dead bodies and always so helpful with your little hints. And you own so useful gadgets," he said with an impressed face and patted on his pocket.

"But I was just keen of you…up to the phone call from my…colleague."

Conan searched feverish for a way to escape the situation, but there was no chance he could dodge the bullet with the gun so near to him. With his tranquilizer-gun-watch gone and of course not wearing his power-kick-boots in bed, he was left with…nothing.

All he could hope for was that Ran would return and look after him, but at the same time he wished that she won't come back in the room and might end up as a target.

Amuro seemed to like his role as the movie-bad-guy, explaining everything to his victim. "She told me that I should stay away from you and took my promise not to hurt a special person. As well she advised me to watch my steps when you are around, because you know about…_us_ and may expose me."

_'A female colleague who knows so much about me? It must be Vermouth. Damn! Just how much did she tell him?'_

"After the panic-stricken look you gave me on the tennis-court, I am sure you already know who I am, but I would like to introduce myself properly. My codename is Bourbon and I am in charge of gathering information for my boss.

Pleased to meet you...Kudo Shinichi."

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**A/N:** Wow! It gave me a very big BIG smile reading your reviews! Thank you so much! *hugs*  
Couldn't wait to load up the new chap. :-D  
I hope you like my interpretation of Amuro since we haven't seen so much of him up till now. But to me he is a very cool/collected charakter with a tendece beeing arrogant but gentleman. I luv him ^_^ (And isn't he well prepared having a gun AND a silencer at hand? *g*)


	5. Time is up!

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter five**  
**Time is up**  
ooOO-OOoo

The room was silent. The boy stared at the man standing there, taking off the glasses and putting them back on the nightstand, while he pronounced the last sentence.

His mind was blank – just to become an absolute chaos.

_'He knows! Vermouth had told him! But why? She never intended to endanger me up till now. What should – what _could _I do now? Who else knows? Gin? I have to warn Ran and Kogoro - everybody - before it would be too late. Focus! First you have a more urgent problem. How the hell can I get out of here? Geez…my head still hurts as if someone stabs with a knife into it.'_

"Don't try so hard to think about your options. I have two for you, but before I give you the opportunity to choose one of them, I am sure you are dying to know what gave you away in the end," Amuro smirked.

_'Uh? I thought he made it clear that Vermouth talked to him.'_

"You are right when you think that my colleague – you figured out that I'm speaking of Vermouth, didn't you – gave me the last confirmation. But I was lucky when Momozono-san asked me to bring up the tray. I have been just in time to overhear a very interesting conversation.

A young boy of seven stated that he is 'Shinichi'. I know that you did not say that exactly, but anyway – it came across very clear. The name rang a bell and I remembered that Kudo Shinichi happened to be the childhood-friend of Mouri Ran.

So I had a little chit-chat with Vermouth after Mouri-chan left and guess what I found out? Kudo Shinichi had been the first 'victim' of APTX 4869 and your 'death' had been confirmed without a corps. Interesting don't you think?"

_'So Vermouth did not sell me directly. It was - again - my bad luck that revealed my identity. Shit! Fortuna must hate me!'_

"Everything fell neatly into place. How a 'detective' like Mouri Kogoro could become so famous. Why a little boy is smarter than most adults. And last but not least – what happened to the missing 'great detective of the east'. Never would I have believed that this is even possible! A teenager turns back into a child... But you are the living proof. Everything else I will leave for our scientists."

Conan knew that to deny it would be pointless. "So, what are you up to do now with all your information? Kill me on the spot and bring me to your laboratory?"

"Oh no! I told you that I have two options for you. And I guess the scientists would prefer you alive, so:

Number one: You refuse to come with me and start to make a big fuss. I will take you nevertheless, but I will have to kill the people we are meeting on our way out of the house. Since we have to pass the living room that means: all of them. And remember: we are really good at covering our traces. I think a little fire may do it. Gas ovens are really dangerous. I think Momozono-san used it for the teawater. It's a classic.

Number two: You pretend that you are feeling very bad and I'll take you out 'to the hospital'. Looking at your currently condition that should be easy for you. No one gets hurt and I can save my bullets for someone else.

Now tell me - what is your decision?"

_'Either I go with him or he will force me - what will be no problem for him. I can't let all the people down there die! Doomed if I do and doomed if I don't! What kind of decision should that be? Crap!'_

Then he heard something that froze him completely. Steps on the stairs.  
Ran was coming back.

_'No!' _his hands went ice cold, while his neck felt like it was burning up. _'Please! Don't come in!'_

"Seems like your time is up. And I am very sorry for Vermouth that the little 'promise' is in my way now. I really don't like to disappoint her and normally I would stand to my word, but in this special case I am disposed to make an exception. So hurry up!"

ooOO-OOoo

The pharmacy had been awfully crowded and she has been one of the last customers before it was closing for today. A little bit exhausted, because she ran all the way back, she reached the house and entered the living room.

"I'm back! How is he? Any changes?" she asked her father.

"Not that I know. Amuro-san is upstairs to bring him something to drink and I think he's keeping him company, since he didn't come back yet. So make short work of it and give him that medicine, so we can head home! Yoko-chan is on TV tonight and I don't want to miss her, because of that squirt!"

"Otou-san! How often do I have to tell you...mouh…never mind!"

She made her way to the room Conan - no, Shinichi...argh...it was so confusing right now – lay in.

Just when she reached the end of the stairs, the door flew open and Amuro dashed through it with a heavy panting Conan in his arms.

"Watch out! He's worse! I'll bring him to the Beika Hospital immediately! Go home and get him some stuff!"

She stood there perplexed - staring at the seemingly nearly unconscious boy.

"What? How? I mean…sure! I will catch up with you in the hospital. Take care of him!"

"Sure thing," he said and with that he was down the stairs, passed an open mouthed Kogoro and left the house.

* * *

**A/N: **So, Amuro grabbed poor little Conan. I had so many options to develope the story in this chap and to leave options for the following ones that I had to rewrite it some times until I was satisfied.

Oh - some of you may miss Sonoko...yhea...guess I forgot her somehow -.-*

Sorry for that but lets just say that she went to the house of her neechan after the doctor gave the "all clear" for Conan.

Jelp: Thank you very much! I'm sorry - Conan didn't make it out of the situation until now :D I know - I'm kind of evil *gg*  
Guest: I assume you are the same "Guest" who also reviewed the previous chapters!? Thank you for following and your support! We will see in the next chapter what Amuro is up to.

And as before: BIG TAHNKS to all of my followers and reviewers!


	6. Worse and worse

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter six**  
**Worse and worse**  
ooOO-OOoo

His white Mazda RX-7 parked in the almost empty street in front of Momozono-sans house. Just one young man passed the two on their way to the car. Amuro unlocked it, placed Conan on the passenger seat and fastened his belt, before he got in himself.

"Time for a road-trip! But don't be afraid. It won't take too long," Amuro smirked to the scowling boy beside him. He started the engine and drove down the street.

Conan was beyond nervous and on guard. _'Everyone I know is in danger, since this guy met many of my friends and he seems to be good in his so-called '_job'_. I don't think, just because I went with him, they will be safe. I have to find a way out of here!'_

"You know, I would love to continue our conversation, but I'm afraid you are not allowed to see where we are going. When we arrive at our destination my very capable colleagues will take care of you, since I have to verify something."

"And what would that be?" Conan tried to steal some time, always keeping an eye on the weapon Amuro hid under his shirt – still within reach.

"Nice you ask! See, when I logged in on your ojisan's computer – don't look at me like this. You knew I checked it when I told you he gave me his password. When I logged in, I found a very bad recorded video, but the content was more than surprising. I assume the name 'Miyano Shiho' sounds familiar to you? I am instructed to look out for her and there she was – wearing this Bell-Tree-Express-ring.

Long-short story. I boarded the train to oversee if she will be there – I found her – and unfortunately she had been blown up with the storage hold carriage."

Conan remembered this incident very well. Although he knew that Haibara had been save, while KID took the place of Miyano Shiho and had escaped with his hang-glider.

"So my job seemed to be finished, but looking back now, I remembered something. Along with your little friends, the shonen-tantei-dan, there is one girl who is resembling Miyano Shiho, just the way you are resembling Kudo Shinichi. I think it is better to be safe than sorry, so I will give her a ride as well."

The small detective tried to keep his pokerface, but he was trembling inside. This was getting worse and worse. _'If _they'll_ get hold of Haibara – if Gin or Vermouth will get the chance to lay a hand on her…everything will be over.'_

The car came to a halt in an empty industrial area.

_'This is my chance!'_

Conan unfastened his seatbelt and reached for the door handle in one motion – trying to open it and jump out of the car. As he grabbed the handle, a bullet hit the door with a sharp _'tzing' _just inches away from his hand and forced him to stop.

"Make one more move and I have to apologize to my boss that he hadn't the chance to question you."

Conan glared at Bourbon, who was looking back with an ice cold expression.

"I bet you have enough to ponder over to not be bored in the trunk, but because I can't trust you to not give me away with any noises, I can't allow you to stay awake. But you are lucky! I heard that chloroform is really unhealthy. So it comes in handy that I have a new invented sleeping drug with me and I know you love to test our new toys!"

He pulled a small bottle out of a bag on the backseat and moistened a tissue with the clear liquid. Bringing it up to Conans nose, who tried to keep away the hand, he smiled.

"How cute! But I have to insist that you take a nap. I am a little bit short on time right now and I have to make a call to slow down your neechan and ojisan. So be a good boy and take a deep breath," Amuro said with an intonation parents would use on a stubborn child and held Conan in place with his other hand.

Unable to move and to hold his breath any longer, Conan inhaled the sweet smelling substance. His struggle waned, his vision blurred and his mind became fuzzy - leading him into a deep, inevitable darkness.

ooOO-OOoo

Ran and Kogoro were on their way back to the agency with very different feelings.

Kogoro was mostly confused and unnerved. _'What is it with that brat? Always a troublemaker! How can that little bump be so bad?'_

The girl next to him was clearly worried and was wringing her fingers in her lap. _'What happened to him while I was gone? He seemed ok when I left him. Not fine - but ok.'_

She considered what damage a hard hit on the head could cause. _'Headache, concussion and worst thing: amnesia, but he only displayed the first one. No nausea and he recognized me just fine. Can symptoms occur with that much delay?'_

She felt very uneasy and jumped out of the rental car the second it stopped. The way back home took more than two hours, caused by the typical traffic plus a closed road and the sun was about to vanish at the horizon. She sprinted into Conan's room and the bath, collecting everything that might be useful for a stay in a hospital and threw it into a bag.

Rushing through the rooms she saw her father leaning back on the couch.

"O-tousan! Get up! We have to drive to the hospital! I can't believe you are that cold and don't even worry about Conan-kun!"

"I am cold? This boy attracts accidents in a row! If I would always freak out, I would not make it till my next birthday!" Kogoro said annoyed, but he had to admit that at the sight of the boys pale face, he had felt a little twitch in his gut. Just like that one he felt when Conan had been hospitalized the last time with the bullet wound. _'Think I got used to the brat during his time staying with us. And Ran cares a lot of him.'_

He pushed himself up "Ok ok, give me that bag and get back into the car."

"I don't think that would be necessary!" a voice stated from the entrance.

Both looked astonished to the blond man standing there.

"Amuro-san! What are you talking about? What's wrong with him?" Ran asked anxious.

"Don't worry too much! He will be fine. The doctor said that his concussion was more serious than we thought and gave him something strong to sleep it off. So he is not allowed any visitors at the moment. He needs absolute calm to rest."

„I see…but he will need some stuff to change and…"

"You can give me the bag. I forgot something in the hospital, so I have to go back there anyway. I will leave it for him at the nurse-station. Besides – the visiting time just ended a few minutes ago," he informed her after a glance on his wristwatch.

"Ok – thank you. When can we see him? Did they tell you?"

It was obvious that Ran was not too happy staying at home. If it was her decision, she would spend the night in the hospital, but she knew her father would not allow that.

She could almost hear his voice _'No way! The brat is sleeping and you can do nothing there! So you will stay put until tomorrow!'_

So she did not see a reason why she should not agree with his offer and handed the bag to him.

"The doctor will call you when Conan-kun wakes up. I gave him your phone number."

Kogoro cleared his throat, "Thank you for your help Amuro-san. Sorry for the trouble."

"No problem! If I can do anything else – just call me."

Amuro waved his goodbye and left the agency.

Down on the street he pulled out his cell phone, while he got back in his car.

"Hi! I need the address of an elementary student from the Teitan.

Her name is Haibara Ai."

* * *

**A/N: **After I read the chap during the editing I thought that Ran maybe should have had a small monolog about that Conan/Shinichi-thing but you know what? She was too worried about his condition so this will have to wait a bit ^_^

It there any other way to say "thanks" for your lovely reviews and your follwing/fav? I don't know so I'm giving you again a BIG SMILING THANK YOU!

I hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned :D


	7. They have him

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter seven**  
**_They_**** have him**  
ooOO-OOoo

The deep black behind his eyelids faded to a diffuse grey. Slowly he regained some feeling in is body back and realized, that he could not move as freely as usual.

It confused him, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong. Was it one of those weird dreams where you felt like you were awake but couldn't move?

Even though his eyes where still shut he felt as if the floor underneath him was moving. Some more impressions came to his awakening senses.

He lay on a hard cold underground, which felt a little bit rough on his hands. A low constant humming was all he could hear.

He let out a small groan and opened his eyes with much blinking.

His vision was hazy and the room around him denied stop turning. Above him was a blinding source of light, so he squeezed his eyes shut again.

_'Ok – bad idea…'_

Trying to turn to the side, but failed at that task, he became more conscious and was sure now that it was no dream. This was worse than all nightmares he'd ever had. Scenes of what had happened came into his mind.

He'd been busted.

Twice at one evening.

He got captured by his deadly enemy and was brought to who knows where.

_'Great performance detective! As if it wasn't bad enough that Ran found out – No! – Just then there had to be a member of the Black Organization eavesdropping. Serious! How much bad luck can one person have? At least this new drug seems to work without any unwanted side effects. Can't say that about all of their stuff…'_

With his hands and feet bound tightly with duct tape, he tried to get up in a seated position to find out where he was.

The light which had blinded him before was not as bright as it seemed first. Actually the room was lit dimly by only this one fluorescent tube on the ceiling.

Scanning his surroundings he saw some shelves lined up at the wall, filled with folders. In one corner across the massive door lay a stack of open boxes. The humming sound came from a ventilation system which blew chilly air into the room.

_'Seems to be a storage room. I've imagined the organization would have some sort of interrogation or torture room for their captives, but maybe they usually don't have_ _much of them, because they shoot them outright.'_

He shivered a bit at that thought. Just the still present police had saved him from being shot at that damn day.

Fortunately there weren't any guards to be seen. So he had at least a chance to search for a way out.

But with his immobile limbs, his actions were really limited.

He rolled over the ground to the boxes, to see if there was anything useful in it. As he rolled over his back, something stung him and he let out a surprised gasp.

Turning until he lay on his stomach, he tried to get with his fingers in the back pocket of his shorts.

_'I can't believe that I still have this with me! Didn't they search me? Maybe they didn't expect something like that in the back pocket of tennis shorts…Either they are careless or really confident, but hey - who cares!?  
I have it and now… I only have to…'_

"Yes!"

He finally managed to get out the little badge, which needle had stung him and pressed the button to connect with Haibara.

He knew she would be terrified as hell, but she was the only person he could contact, as the rest of the shonen-tantei-dan was clearly no option.

Conan brought his face to the badge to speak.

"Haibara! Haibara, can you hear me?"

A few moments there was only static rustle to hear.

"What is it Edogawa-kun? We're having dinner right now, so I hope this is important."

_'Charming as ever,' _he thought.

"I can assure you it _is! _Get the spare glasses and track my badge! And hurry up!  
I don't know how much time I have, before someone will check on me!" he instructed her.

ooOO-OOoo

Ai could hear the absolute serious tone in his voice and it gave her chills. The girl ran down in her lab, followed by a questioning gaze from Agasa. She ripped open the drawer; snatched the glasses and switched them on.

"Ok, I've got a signal! What now? Shall we pick you up? What happened?"

"No! Don't come here alone! You'll need help for that, but try to find out where I am. Now take what you need for a few days and leave the house with Hakase _immediately! _Bourbon found out about me and he is on the way to you right now!

And…Haibara, please take care of…"

"My my! See what we have here," a new voice could be heard through the badge in Ai's hand.

"I don't think that we gave you the permission to call your friends, so…"

A yelp from Conan resounded and with that the line went dead.

Ai stared at the small transmitter, as if she hoped it would come to life again. The pulsing red point in the tracking glasses was gone.

_'They have him! They know!'  
_During the last sentences from Conan she had started to tremble.  
_'He is as good as dead…'_

Agasa stepped down the stairs to the lab.

"Ai-kun what is going on? What's up with Shinichi?"

He stopped as he saw the small figure of the girl in front of him.  
Wide eyes – shaking.  
The badge clasped in her hand. He kneeled down and grabbed her shoulders.

"Ai-kun! Look at me! Where is Shinichi?"

Eventually her eyes cleared and met his intense gaze. Her voice came out as a barely audible whisper.

"_They_ have him…"

Then Conan's massage sunk in and she was back on earth, now nearly screaming.

"Hakase! Go and get some stuff! We have to leave _now! _Maybe for a few days or a month – who knows...  
Just grab what you need!

_They_ are coming here!"

ooOO-OOoo

Conan watched through squinted eyes, due to the pain he got from the kick in his stomach, how the white clad man crushed the badge under his shoe.

The kick hasn't been too hard, but enough for his small body to need a while to regain his breath.

Still a little bit panting he looked up from his position on the ground, as the man kneeled down and spoke to a young woman behind him.

"Give me the syringe!"

He slightly smirked at Conan, "Let's have a look at what your blood can tell us."

* * *

**A/N:** In this chap I used the first time _ever_ the word "eventually". When I started reading english stories this word confused me because it reminds me of the german word "eventuell" what means "possibly" so I ended up translating this damn word wrong every time in my head even I knew it better. But now it is part of my own story! Ha ha! I got you - you sneaky word! :D

Anyway! I'm sorry for little Conan-kun right now, knowing that he is not done yet...*sob sob*

At this point again my biggest hugs to my dear reviewer and followers! You make writing this story so much fun! THX!

I hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for the next chap!


	8. All-nighter

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter eight**  
**All-nighter**  
ooOO-OOoo

The two people in the yellow car were silent. The mood was tensed, as they drove through the nightly city.

"And you are sure the signal came from this area Ai-kun?"

"Yes. It was clearly somewhere in the Chūō district, but I couldn't locate where exactly."

"It would be useless to drive there up and down the streets. As well Shinichi told us to bring back-up when we go get him," Agasa thought aloud.

"Right, but we _have_ to do something! When he spoke of back-up, I'm pretty sure that he thought of Jodie-san since she already knows about the organization. I'll give her a call. We need a safe place to stay anyway and I assume she can help us out."

One phone call later Ai had the address of a building about fifteen minutes to drive from their actual location.

"There is a parking lot underneath it. Your car is too easy to recognize to park it in the street Hakase," Ai told the professor as the building came in sight.

It looked like an office complex. Most of the twenty floors seemed to be empty, but ready to be rented.

The yellow beetle rolled into the parking lot and stopped near an elevator which led to the different floors.

Both got out of the car and took their belongings. After Ai typed in the code she'd received from Jodie, the elevator doors opened.  
They entered and were brought automatically to the twelfth floor.

A short _ping_ informed the two passengers that they had to leave the small cabin.

Jodie was already waiting for them. Her face all earnest and questioning, but also a bit relieved.

"I'm glad you've made it here safely! Come on. You can put your stuff in the rooms over there. We have plenty of space here.  
The FBI uses this place as a safe house if needed and I think this is the case right now."

The rooms were planned for an office, but in some of them they found furniture which made them a living- or a bedroom.  
Only the ones without windows to the front were used, so it wouldn't be too obvious when someone was inside.

In one room a big table, six chairs, a fridge, microwave and a coffeemaker could be found.

With a sigh Agasa plopped on a chair and nodded thankfully to Jodie, as she handed him a cup of coffee.  
Ai got some coffee for herself, what Jodie noticed with a raised eyebrow.

"So, when I got it right from your phone call, Conan-kun is in real big trouble and neither are you. Please give me all details you have."

Ai glanced to the professor and steeled herself. "Before I can get to the actual situation there is something you need to know to understand the full consequences of Edogawa-kun being kidnapped. You need to understand who I really am and more important - who _he_ really is."

ooOO-OOoo

It's been ten minutes since he'd arrived at the round shaped house. The lights were out and nobody has been seen through the windows.

_'Time to take a look inside.'_

The blond took the bag from the backseat and left the car. Reaching the front door he picked the lock so fast that a bystander would have thought he'd used a key.

Standing in the entrance he closed the door carefully and made his way to the living room.

Silently he let his eyes slid though the almost dark room. Just the gleam of the streetlights and the moon revealed the couch with a blanket and a science magazine on it, the round counter and the unfinished dinner on the plates.

All doors leading here were left open. Everything told him that the two people living here left in a hurry.

_'They have been warned. I'm impressed little detective! However you managed it - well done!'_

Amuro went further into the house and found a stair leading down. He switched on a flashlight and followed the steps into a fully developed cellar.

_'Let's see – what do we have here…A desk with a computer on it and an open drawer. Shelves with folders, bottles that look like they belong into a lab and…'_

A squeaking sound made him turn around and he caught sight of a glass cage.

_'Mice? I don't think an inventor like Agasa Hakase needs experimental animals. I see you have not been lazy Sherry. And for sure you did not blow up in that carriage.'_

Back at the desk he glanced in the open drawer. Taking out a plastic box and opening it, he grinned as he looked at the content.

_'Actually you have been very busy as it seems. I am really curious what you've been able to do here.' _

He put the pills he'd found in his bag, sat down and pressed the power button on the computer. Waiting while the PC was booting up, he flipped through some discs in a case.

Finally the screen showed an entry field for a password and let the lab appear in a ghostly green light.

_'You are not that kind of person to leave your password underneath the table, are you? Doesn't matter. Fortunately I don't depend on knowing your password. Although I have to admit, that it can be fun to manipulate people until they give it away willingly.'_

As he had told Conan, he was in charge of gathering information. And for this job he was equipped with some very useful technical gimmicks.

He pulled out a small device and connected it with the computer.

_ 'Nice toy this little hacking machine. Now I just have to wait a moment and then…'_

The control lamp on the device lit up green and files and folders were visible on the screen. He plugged in an external hard drive and began to search the data.

_'Hmm…very interesting stuff. Our scientists will love that. Get the feeling I have to pull an all-nighter here.'_

He leaned back, crossed his arms behind his head and watched the copying process.

ooOO-OOoo

In the neighboring house a curtain fell back in place. The man standing behind it thought about his options.

In the end he decided that he would wait how the things will develop next door and to keep an eye on the intruder.

* * *

**A/N: **Ok, first of all I have to apologize! I missed to check the timespan you would need to drive from Izu back to Tokyo. But as you have seen in this chap, it is not so important for the story because they know already the roughly area where Conan is. So everyone is back in Tokyo and this is where this story takes place. Nevertheless: Gomen nasai mina-san!

This chap contains no action - I know...but hey! Give them the chance to take a breath ^_^

So my dear ones - thank you for your support! I really love to read your reviews and your advises are more than appreciated!

Ja ne!


	9. Please be okay

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter nine**  
**Please be okay**  
ooOO-OOoo

Ran woke up startled. She lay on the couch – a blanket pooled around her. On the table beside her the cell phone showed 7:04 a.m.

_'Must have fallen asleep. Still no call from the hospital.'_

She got up from the uncomfortable position and stretched her back.

Her thoughts went back to the last evening and the unbelievable truth she found out. Or better to say – that finally had been confirmed to her.

The whole night she had pondered over the facts that she knew and had imagined the ones she didn't. Yet there were so much left she couldn't figure out, but she was determined to let Shinichi tell her _every single detail!_

Also some very delicate scenes came to her mind and made her blush deeply.

_'Now I know why he'd always made such a big fuss about bathing or sleeping together…'_

But what bothered her most was that nagging feeling that something really bad must have happened to make him - _that way._ It scared her that he did not feel like he could ask for help. He'd played his part every damned day! He'd fooled her, her parents, the police!

And he had lied to her.

She was sad and angry about it. _'He will definitely pay me back for all the worry about him!' _

But at the same time she was sure he hadn't done it just for fun. Not he! Let him be a mystery-loving jerk, but he never had lied to her! And why on earth should he stay in such a tiny body willingly, when he was the most promising young detective in Japan?

It had taken her nearly all night to get over her fury and frustration up to this acknowledgment.

He had always put the truth on a pedestal – to search the truth was what kept him going as a detective. And he was good at what he did. Maybe a little bit too good as was healthy for his ego. They even called him the 'Heisei Holmes' sometimes. No wonder he could be so cocky now and then.

It must have been hard for him to stay back, to not be taken serious, be treated like a child.

_'I even gave him a bedtime.' _She let out a soft giggle. The great Kudo Shinichi had to follow _her_ bedtime and go to elementary school. She made a mental notice to pester him later about that – when he was better.

Her smiling expression dropped and was replaced by a concerned frown.

His suddenly worsened condition was still tugging at her nerves. Just like there was something – _off_. But she couldn't put her finger on it.

Exhaling she got up to get a fast breakfast ready. It was early, but she wanted to go to the hospital as soon as possible. Walking over to the kitchen she saw something on the table next to her cell phone.

Conan's glasses.

_'Right – after Amuro-san left with him, I gathered all of Conan's stuff before we drove home. Good thing that he doesn't need them actually. Shinichi has almost perfect eyesight.'_

She was about to leave it at that, when she realized something.

_'Shinichi might not need them – but Conan does! They are a big part of his disguise! Unbelievable how some simple glasses can change your whole appearance. I don't know if anyone will be able to connect the dots just because of his missing glasses, but I'll better bring them to him! Just in case.'_

Breakfast forgotten, she searched a piece of paper and left a note for her father who was still fast asleep.

_'Geez…was it really necessary to drink so much again while watching Yoko?'_

She grabbed her jacket and her handbag and swung the door open…

…just to collide with the person who was about to knock on that very door.

"Uhf" "Whow – slow it down! It's a bit early for a sprint don't ya think?"

She lifted her head and was greeted by a grinning dark tanned face.

"Hattori-kun! What are you doing here?"

"Haah? Didn't Ku-Conan-kun tell ya?" He looked a bit embarrassed and scratched the back of his head.

Ran had heard this little slip up so often, but _now _she really paid attention to it.  
How many times had Hattori called out 'Ku-Conan-kun' or even 'Kudo'?

It was crystal clear that Hattori knew everything!

_'Explains why he and 'Conan-kun' get along so well,'_ she grumbled. _'I think I let him sweat a little bit.'_

She gave him an innocent smile, "Oh, I'm afraid he forgot somehow to mention that his _'Heiji-niichan'_ is coming for a visit. Too bad! I just gave all our spare futons away for cleaning, but I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem for you two pals to share one, right?"

Satisfied she noticed his face was showing a beautiful shade of red.

"Uhm…yeah…sure…hehe…why not?" Hattori stuttered nervously.

Ran snickered followed from a sigh, "Ok, enough! Just drop it – I know about his _little_ secret."

"Ya – wait! _What?_"

"Long story. I will tell you on our way to the hospital. Come on - let's see how our patient is doing today."

_'Patient? Oh no, Kudo – what is it this time? Can't ya stay out of trouble just for once?'_

"Wa-wait for me!" he shouted and sprinted after Ran, who was already down the stairs. Catching up with her he fired his questions at her and she gave him an update of the recent events.

Totally distracted by their conversation it was an easy task for a certain young man to follow could hardly believe what he was hearing, but suddenly a few things made a lot more sense to him.

ooOO-OOoo

"Hee? What do you mean with 'Edogawa Conan is not here'? He has to be! He had been brought here with a concussion yesterday evening from a friend of us! Look it up again please!"

Rans eyes were wide in worry and she bit her lip as the nurse at the reception clicked and scrolled through the data in her computer for a second time.

"I'm sorry, but his name is nowhere listed. Maybe he had been brought to another hospital?"

Heiji pulled on Rans sleeve, "Ran-san, I have a bad feeling about this."

On their way he'd had to tell Ran why he was into this Conan/Shinichi-thing. He told her how he'd found out on the Sherlock Holmes event, but he'd refused to tell her more details. "This is not my story ta tell. He would kick my ass for that!" had been his excuse.

But now Shinichi was missing.

_'Oi Kudo! Don't ya dare leavin' it ta me! Ya better be okay ta get the beatin'-up from her yaself! But I have ta give her somthin' more so she would understand how dangerous this might become.'_

A glance at the nurse assured him that she was distracted and not longer listening to them. Nevertheless his voice was close to a whisper. "Ya said that this Amuro guy brought him ta the hospital? Kudo told me a little bit 'bout him. He was suspicious that he was not what he pretended ta be, but he had no evidence. I'm afraid he was right. Wait here – I have ta make a call."

Heiji left a very confused Ran at the reception but he made sure that she was still in sight. He dialed a number and waited for the response.

"Haibara-san! I think tha whole thin' is blowin' up in our faces! Kudo is missin'!" he hissed.

"I know – it's_ them._" came the straight answer which made him almost drop his phone.

"Ya…ya _know it's them?" _

After his little outburst he hastily lowered his voice again.

_"_What tha heck is goin' on here? Mind ta fill me in? I'm in tha hospital with Mouri-san ta check on him and he had never been here! And now ya 're tellin' me ya know already that he is gone _and _that _they _are responsible?"

"Good, that means you are in Tokyo. That will safe some time. I'll give you the address where you can meet us. Bring Mouri-san as well."

_'Did she listen ta me at all?'_ he sweatdropped, but noted the address.

He hung up and returned to Ran, who had watched him impatiently and with growing concern.

"Who did you call? Did you find out something? Where is he? What…"

"Whowhow! Breath Ran-san! We will find him! I received an address where we will meet Agasa Hakase and Haibara-san. Come one! We don't' have any time we can waste." Dragging her behind, he rushed to the exit.

"Hakase and Haibara-san? What about the police? If he really is missing, we have to report that! Megure-keibu will help us!" she said and Heiji spun around - almost crashing into her.

"We can't do that! Listen, I don't wanted ta worry ya more than I have ta, but as tha situation is now, ya must be aware of this! Tha people who did this ta him are really dangerous. Even too dangerous for tha police ta handle. Don't ya think he would have told them right away if it was that easy?

They're like shadows! And they don't give a damn who they have ta kill ta keep their secrets! He's hauntin' them now for so long and he couldn't gather enough evidence ta bring them ta justice. It won't help ta catch just a few of them. Tha rest would vanish and start over again – more deadly than before! They must be eliminated completely! But so far we lack tha necessary information for that."

Ran just stood there. She tried to process what Heiji told her.

_'So I was right. He is in danger – had been in danger the whole time!  
And now…his enemies got hold on him.'_

Tears welled up in her eyes.

_'Shinichi – please be okay!'_

* * *

**A/N: **Heiji appears! :D I tried to involve some of his accent but not too much. I don't want to irritate your reading-flow. Tell me if it workes out this way ;-)

So a lot of Ran's toughts in this chap. I didn't want to make her too whiny, because I think in the end she is a rational person who likes to take action.

I hope you had fun and I see you in the next chap and thank you so so much for your support! :))


	10. Questions

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter ten**  
** Questions**  
ooOO-OOoo

Amuro left the house as the sun rose. He was impressed with what Sherry had done with so limited resources. After copying all the data from the computer, he had sent everything via a save connection directly to the headquarters. The external hard drive in his bag was just a backup in case something was wrong with the transmission.

_'Ok, just a short stop at the headquarters to drop off the hard drive and a quick check on our 'guest', before I can finally get some rest. I better use a new place to stay. It won't be long until they find out that their 'little kid' is missing. It wasn't satisfying being a waiter and an apprentice for this incapable 'detective' anyway.' _

He stretched out, headed to his car…and stopped.

A man with light-brown hair leaned casually against his Mazda; hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket.

_'He looks familiar. I'm sure I have seen him before… Oh, yes! He was the man leaning out of the pink Subaru when we were out to rescue Conan-kun from that crazy woman. I saw him for just a second,d but I'm sure it's him. What is he doing here at this time of day?'_

"Good morning!" Okiya greeted, but there was nothing 'good' in his voice.

"Mind telling me what you were doing in Hakase's house all night while he is absent?"

Their eyes met in silence.

Several early risers passed them, making their way down the street.

"Maybe we should _discuss_ this somewhere more private, don't you think?"

Okiya sent a smirk to Amuro and a bulge in his jacket convinced the BO-member to obey his instructions for the time being. His boss would not be too pleased when he drew too much attention and a gunfight in the middle of a street would definitely not go unnoticed.

They walked through the gate of the mansion next to Hakase's house. Amuro looked at the name plate  
_'Kudo, huh? Who is this guy and why does he have access to the detective's home?'_

Standing in front of each other in the big entry hall, only two meters separated them as they assessed the opponent.

Okiya finally broke the silence and pointed his now exposed gun at Amuro. "I'm well aware of who you are, so don't try anything stupid. What mission brings you here?"

Amuro looked at him with a coolly grin. "When you know who I am you should also know that it is not healthy to stand in my way. My mission is none of your business."

"I'm afraid it is. So you…"

The attack came not fully surprising, but it was fast! With a well aimed high-kick Amuro disarmed Okiya and tried to punch him in the face right after. He was not into material arts, but a trained former police officer and member of a criminal organization. He knew how to fight!

Okiya barely managed to dodge Amuro's fist, but his glasses clattered on the floor. Still moving away, he hit his rival in the stomach, sending him flying backwards.

The blonde looked up - gasping for air - at the exposed face and into now wide open green eyes.

"You!" he brought out through gritted teeth with hatred in his voice.  
"I knew you weren't dead! It was just too good to be true!"

All he got from Okiya– No! Akai Shuichi! – was another grin.

They circled each other, waiting for a gap in the opponents cover. Attack and defense equal on both sides, neither wanted to give in.

After several strikes and kicks both men had bruises on their faces and bloodstains on their clothes.  
They waited for the one chance to break through the defense to place a knock out.

There! Some blood ran into Amuro's eye and he had to blink it away. That was all the time Akai needed to roll over to the abandoned gun – aim – and to fire a bullet in Amuro's left thigh.

With a curse Amuro lost his balance and slumped to the ground. Immediately Akai was on top of him and pinned him down.

"Ok!..." he panted "Now you will answer all my questions. And I advise you to answer them quick and honest!"

ooOO-OOoo

_'Edogawa Conan is Kudo Shinichi…'_

The sentence sounded repeatedly in Jodies head.

The previous night had been full of questions, explanations and more questions. She'd lost track of how many coffee she'd drunk already, but filled her cup again and glanced at the clock.

_'7:45 a.m. I think no one of us slept more than one or two hours this night.'_

She watched the little girl – no that wasn't right – the girl-turned-teen, as Ai's cell phone went off. The strawberry blonde left the table and began to talk to the caller.

_'It's unbelievable, but I have the proof right before my eyes. And it makes so much sense! I've always thought that something was strange about these kids but really – who for heaven's sake would consider something like _this_?'_

An hour ago she had called James Black to inform him of their situation and to ask for some advice. He couldn't join them, because he was in America right now, but he'd promised to send her help.

He left her brooding over the facts again and again.

The FBI had no permission to operate in Japan, so she couldn't go to the place Conan was held captive and…Hell, she did not even know _where_ she should go to!

Frustrated she buried her face in her hands.

"Hattori-kun and Mouri-san will be here in about…twenty minutes, when I judge his hot-blooded temper right," the evenly and always a little cold sounding voice of Ai reached Jodie's ears.

Agasa entered the room with a cell phone in his hand and sat down at the table.

"I've tried to reach Shinichi-kun's parents but their phones are not available. Most likely Yusaku-kun is hiding from his editors again. I will try it again later. They have to know what happened to their son. And Yusaku-kun has connections to Interpol which could be very helpful."

The '_ping_' of the elevator brought all three to their feet.

Jodie shoved Agasa and Ai out of the way and pulled out her gun. Although she was pretty sure that this must be whoever James sent to her because the person knew the elevator code, she was not going to let her guard down. It was far too easy to hack an electronic system.

She crouched down and pointed her gun at the elevator doors which slid open.

Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a silent 'No' as the person left the cabin.  
Tears blurred her sight and she blinked hard to clear her eyes. Her hands trembled as she tried to tighten her grip on the gun.

_'This is impossible! I must be hallucinating from the lack of sleep. You are dead! You left me…' _ her voice was a toneless whisper "…Shu!"

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for the long wait! But for this chapter I worked with a Beta for the first time (thank you Iwamoto Yuri!) So I hope this one is easier to read for you without all my grammar mistakes ;D

Just because I'm curious: did you notice while reading that there were less mistakes?

Oh - and skdc8595: The fighting scene is for you, because you asked for one in your review! First I wanted to fade out earlier, but then I thought "Hey - give it a try". I hope you like it! (Fights are not that easy for me XD)

For me, as a Bourbon-fan, it was hard to let him lose *sob sob* But is was for the sake of the story...

Have a sunny sunday and thx a lot for your reviews/follows/favs!


	11. Answers

**Chapter eleven**  
**Answers**  
ooOO-OOoo

* * *

He heard the one word she managed to bring out, as quiet as it may have been, and took one step forward.  
Right behind her he could catch a glance of two people.

While Jodie was still frozen on the spot, a small girl moved in front of her after she was seemingly sure that they were not in danger.

Icy blue eyes looked up through strawberry blond bangs and Akai could feel the atmosphere tense up between them, seeing her body shaking in rage. Her hissed words cut the silence.

"What of all people are_ you_ doing here?"

He did not break the eye contact with her. Green eyes met blue ones. "I know you want answers - both of you," he added finally throwing a short look at Jodie. "And you deserve them, but I need you to wait, because we have more urgent topics right now. All you need to know, little girl, is that I'm a member of the FBI and I'm here to find your friend."

Ai clenched her teeth, but remained silent.

Akai went over to the still dumbstruck looking Jodie and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Jodie, may I have a few words with you?"

She managed a brief nod and followed him to one of the rooms.

Agasa led Ai back to the table and made her sit down. "Ai-kun, what's the matter with this man? How do you know him?"

She was far away from calm, but forced herself to answer the question in a steady voice. "_He _is Moroboshi Dai – known as 'Rye' in the organization. My sister Akemi was in love with him, but he just used her. As it seems now, only to get information for the FBI. I met him a few times back then, that's why he recognized me on first sight – even in this form."

"He didn't seem to be surprised that you are a child. I wonder what he knows…"

Again the elevator announced the arrival of new guests.

Ai and Agasa watched the parting doors and Akai and Jodie ran back, taking their protective positions again.

Two people stepped out of the elevator and stopped at the sight of the weapons pointed on them, but relaxed when Jodie and Akai lowered their guns and waved them in.

Ai glanced at her clock and back to the tanned boy and the brown haired girl. "Only fifteen minutes. You've been even faster than I expected."

"Ya little…what were ya thinkin', not tellin' me what happened ta Ku-Conan-kun?" Heiji shouted, remembering there were two people present who were not supposed to know Conan's secret.

"I would have called you, but we had to deal with some problems ourself! So stop yelling when you have no idea what you are talking about!" Ai shot back. All pressure of the last night and the sudden appearance of her sister's ex-boyfriend were getting on her nerves and made her voice sharp.

"By the way, you can quit the whole 'Conan-kun'-thing. Everyone here knows about him and you're not a good actor anyway. It is a miracle that you didn't blow his cover much earlier with all your slip ups."

He was about to give her a very rude reply containing lots of shouting and 'Aho', when the girl next to him spoke up.

"Ai-chan...you knew about his secret? And Hakase – you too?"

Ran sounded teary and bitter. "Seems like everyone else other than me…even you Jodie-san? And who are you anyway?" she almost screamed at Akai – now with visible tears in her eyes.

"And don't tell me again that I'm crying all the time! I have all right to cry! Can anyone just please already tell me what's happening here? I can't take it anymore! I don't care if Shinichi told you not to do it! He is not here and nobody knows what might have happened to him or where he is! So _spit it out!" _

All eyes were on the heavy breathing girl until Agasa cleared his throat.

"Ran-chan, I think it will be best when you come with me. I will give you as much information as possible." She gave him a thankful look and the two of them went into the room Akai and Jodie had gone to before.

Knowing Agasa would be much gentler than Ai, Heiji was glad that the old men took over the responsibility for this most likely very difficult conversation. Also he would not have to dodge her karate moves. Heiji shuddered at the thought.

"So Haibara-san – what have ya done so far ta get him back? What is tha plan?"

"The plan? He was able to contact me with the transmitter Hakase invented for the shonen tantei dan. The tracking glasses showed he was in the Chūō district, but where exactly and if he is still there? Who knows. He couldn't tell us more than that Bourbon was after us before he was… interrupted and the signal was dead." Ai explained.  
She remembered Conan's yelp and clenched her hands.

"So – we don't have a plan, because we have no idea where to start!"

"This Amuro was really a member of tha organization? Damn! Ran-san told me he took Kudo ta the hospital after he'd been hit hard on tha head. Oh, by the way – Kudo had been a little bit out of it due ta the concussion and that's why Ran-san knows about him too. She had ta leave tha house ta buy him some painkillers. When she came back from tha pharmacy, Amuro ran off with a bad lookin' Conan in his arms. He'd send them back ta the agency ta grab some stuff but caught up with them there and stopped Ran-san ta go ta tha hospital herself," Heiji sighed and plopped down on one of the chairs.

"Ya know the rest. I met Ran-san at tha agency, we found no sign of 'Conan-kun' at tha hospital and here we are."

Ai frowned, "Did he drug him? And how did he know who Conan was really?"

"I think I can fill some gaps here."

They turned to Akai with questioning expressions.

"I observed Hakase's house and tonight there was an uninvited guest who searched it after you two drove away."

Crossing her arms in front of her chest Ai glared at him, "You observed the house? Why?"

"Maybe because I live next door and want to be a good neighbor?" A slightly amused grin tugged at the corner of his lips.

"You live…Oh, I _knew _that this Okiya-san was suspicious! So in the Bell-Tree-Express you…"

"Yes. I have kept an eye on you for a while now. You should save your death-glare for the guy who messed up your lab. I intercepted him this morning when he was about to leave. It took a little 'persuasion' to make him talk, but in the end he had to give in," Akai told obviously satisfied.

"I found this hard drive in his bag. You will need it. I don't think there is anything useful left on your computer. Unfortunately he was able to send this data to his boss before I took care of him, so they are informed about your working process."

Ai looked down on the small grey square on the table. '_All my researches about the antidote are in their hands now. What will they do with them? Alter the poison to make it a perfect killing instrument?'_

"What did he tell ya about Kudo? Did he spit out where he is?" Heiji asked impatient.

"No. Even his arrogance ends somewhere. He wouldn't betray his boss! But at least he won't bother us anymore. I made sure of that. And what gave Kudo-kun away in the end – I would call it 'unfortunate circumstances'. Bourbon stood right in front of the room in which Ran was caring for Conan-kun. Apparently she found something that convinced her that Conan-kun was her missing friend Kudo Shinichi and she addressed him that way. He didn't deny it and Bourbon used his connections to find out the rest."

A gasping breath came from behind them. Turning around a shocked, wide eyed Ran came in sight.  
Her hands covered her mouth and slowly she sank to the ground.

"I…it was…my fault!? If I hadn't…he…no…_NO!" _she screamed - grasped her head and looked like she was having a complete breakdown.

Agasa, who was standing next to her, kneeled down and tried to comfort her. Whispering soothing words he hugged her fatherly and rocked her in his arms. It hurt him to see this always friendly and smiling girl that he knew since her early childhood, crying her eyes out like that.

It had been too much for her. She had just calmed down a bit after learning the whole truth about Shinichi's disappearance which had affected her deeply. He had told her about the poison, the organization, Ai and even about the times she had seen Shinichi in his true form. She'd tried to remain composed but he had seen every twitch, every wince and every silent tear that had ran down her pale cheeks.

And now she blamed herself for what happened to Shinichi. He sighed. _'How much more do these two have to suffer?'_

Slowly he got up. Supporting Ran's trembling body he led her back to the room so she could lay down for a while.

The other three people had watched her outburst with growing concern.

"Will she be ok?" Jodie asked anxiously.

Heiji's distressed gaze lay on the closed door through which he still heard muted sobs.

"She is strong. Give her some time."

* * *

**A/N: **Alright! Another chap is done :D

First of all, a BIG THANKS to Iwamoto Yuri, who did a great job with the Beta! And of course, also to my dear readers/reviewers!

I know...again no Conan-kun in the story...but I promise: I did not forget him! But as all the things happen very fast and all in the morning, I wanted to stay in timeline and tell what happend elsewhere, before I will go back to our little detektive. So...yes...we will read about him later :D

Enjoy and have a sunny day!

Oh - and I will be away the next days, so I can't answer your reviews right away, but I will do it when I'm back!


	12. Private stalker

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter twelve**  
**Private stalker**  
ooOO-OOoo

"Aaargh!" the osakan teen let out frustrated, "There must be a way ta find Kudo without checkin' every single house in Chūō! We have two former members of this damn organization here and ya have no idea?"

Heiji hovered, totally unnerved, over a map of the Chūō district.

Ai and Akai had shared everything they knew, but apparently the organization changed their headquarters and laboratories frequently in order to cover their tracks. All places known by traitors like Sherry and Rye had been abandoned or destroyed immediately.

They had no lead.  
They didn't even know if Shinichi was still alive, but they refused to give him up.

Ran eventually fell asleep after a night with little rest and a day full of exhausting events. Agasa checked on her every now and then, to be there for her if needed.

Akai took out his cell phone. "I don't like to do this, because it might bring even more complications, but I'll try to contact Kir. She is still in the organization and might know something."

"No need for the trouble," a voice out of nowhere sounded through the room, followed by a puff of smoke, which revealed a white clad man leaning in a dark corner.

"What the...? K-Kaitou Kid!?" Heiji stuttered, nearly tipping over with his chair as he jumped up.

The phantom thief performed an elegant deep bow. "At your service! I heard little Tantei-kun went missing and I'm here to lend you a hand."

Ai looked at him suspiciously. "What do you know about his absence and how did you find us here?"

"Ahh, little neechan! Fancy meeting you again!" Kid tapped his hat and sent her his brightest smile, which was answered with an annoyed glance.

"To answer your question: I tried to elaborate a way for Tantei-kun to pay back his debts, so I happened to…observe him today."

"Ya mean ya stalked him," came the mumbled comment from Heiji.

Kid looked at him amused "Protective, eh Tantei-han? Anyhow, finding you was no big deal. You know – I'm a magician!"

Heiji narrowed his eyes at the sight of the grinning thief. "Ya say magician, I still say stalker."

"Tantei-han! Please don't interrupt me all the time! To come back to business: Yes! I followed you since you've left the agency with neechan this morning. You really should work on your wariness," he said with a teasing smirk, making Heiji clench his teeth.

"And guess how surprised I was, when I learned that Tantei-kun is actually Meitantei-san?"

Now Heiji looked like he was about to tackle Kid.

Kid raised his gloved hands. "No reason to get so worked up about it. His secret is safe with me. I have no intention to harm my favorite critic. Quite the opposite! I can tell you where he is!"

"Ya know…Why didn't ya tell us sooner if ya were followin' us tha whole mornin' Aho!?" Heiji yelled, even angrier than before.

"Language Tantei-han! I couldn't appear as Kaitou Kid in the middle of a street, could I?" Kid answered dryly.

"Also, you don't know my real persona, so would you have listened to me if I just jumped in front of you and said 'Hey! I know where your little buddy is!'?" his questioning look was answered with a snort from Heiji.

"I guess not! You would have seen me as a threat and neechan would have beaten me up with her scary karate kicks, thank you very much! My first intention was to inform neechan so she could alert the police, but when I arrived, you were already on the way to the hospital, so I changed my plans after I heard what was really at stake."

Heiji calmed down a bit and grumbled, "May have a point there. So ya've followed Kudo and Bourbon before ya came ta tha agency?"

"That's correct. I saw his little accident on the tennis-court. There was this blond man, Bourbon, who'd tried to blow me up on that drat train. I'm sure Tantei-kun informed you about my modest part in this game?" Kid asked and Heiji nodded, gesturing at him to continue.

"I have been alerted and decided it would be best to have an eye on the upcoming events. After Tantei-kun got the 'all clear' from the doctor, I had a look at the neighborhood. After all, there was another reason for me to be in this area," Kid grinned.

Ai rolled her eyes, "We really don't want to know about your night-job Kid."

"Ok, ok, I wouldn't have told you anyway!" A typical Kid-smile flashed over his face, before it returned to a, rather unusual, serious expression. "After I finished, I got back to the house Tantei-kun was in, just to see how Bourbon carried him to a white car and sped off with him. Fortunately I brought my hang-glider, but I can tell you - it was not easy to chase a car in bright daylight and stay unseen. They stopped in an industrial area and a few moments later I came close enough to see Bourbon, who was pointing a gun at Tantei-kun," the thief said grimly.

Everyone gasped and Heiji growled, "Had Kudo been shot? What did that bastard do ta him?"

"I don't think he shot him. I've seen no blood, but he was unconscious and bound with duct tape when Bourbon put him in the trunk."

"Damn it!" Heiji slammed his fist on the table, making the others startle. He could not bear to hear how vulnerable his friend had been. _'He is just a child right now. There had been nothin' he could have held against an aimed organization member.'_

Kid looked at him sympatheticly. "Bourbon drove on, until they reached a company building in Chūō. He parked in an underground parking lot, where I couldn't follow him with my glider. I wanted to go in, but I needed a disguise for that and it took me a little while, so I couldn't see where Tantei-kun was brought to."

"You've been inside a headquarters of the black organization, sneaking around and they did not shoot you?" Ai asked astonished.

"Indeed. Be assured, you will need more than just a good disguise to enter the actually interesting parts in that building. I have never seen so many guards, even though they are not recognizable as guards right away and the security system is nothing you can buy on the regular market."

"That is no surprise, considering who we are talking about. Which company is it?" Akai asked. He had listened quiet to the story up till now.

"It is called 'Kurosake Pharmaceutical'. They have really big labs, which was to be expected. Besides; they also run a huge IT branch in the same building."

Akai looked over to Jodie. "What do we know about this company? Anything special or unusual?"

"I will check up on it." she answered and pulled a laptop out of her bag.

Kid moved a bit in the corner. The shadows there made sure that most parts of his face remained hidden. The monocle reflected the bit of light that reached under brim of his hat.

"I've spent the rest of the night in the building and tried to find Tantei-kun, but as I said before, I had no access to the high-security areas. I couldn't find him, so I am sure that he must be in these. At the end of the night, I'd been able to outline a ground plan for the different floors and departments."

Just in the blink of an eye, Kid produced some papers out of thin air and they spread out on the table, while the thief still leant against the wall. "Overall the building has twenty-three floors. We can narrow it down to the floors ten to fifteen - where the labs are placed – and sixteen to twenty. There is the IT branch. The lower floors are just regular offices or used by the staff.  
The three on top seem to be the boss office and private rooms. If Tantei-kun is held captive on these floors, we need to come up with a really good plan. When the security for the rest of the building is extraordinary then this is like breaking into Fort Knox."

Akai studied the plans frowning. "There is still a large number of floors left to search. We can't go in there when we don't know where exactly he is and what awaits us on the higher floors."

Kid smirked. "That's correct. And that's why I will go back and have a closer look on everything."

"You can't do that! They will kill you as soon as they notice you. Do you want to die?" Ai yelled.

Heiji looked at him thoughtfully. "Why do you want to take such a high risk? 'Conan-kun' just attended some of your heists and you barely know Kudo."

The thief nodded. "I think it is fair enough when I tell you one of Kid's secrets. I am chased as well. Not by the police task force, they are always fun to me." He sounded mischievous, but just for a second. "I'm talking about someone deadly. They tried to shoot me out of the sky a few times, but fortunately their snipers a not the best and Lady Luck favored me. There seem to be some parallels to the organization, which is after Tantei-kun. By helping you to find him and maybe even bring down your enemies, I hope to find a way to resolve my little problem too."

"Officially I can't agree with that. After all, you are a civilian – thief or not." Akai gave Kid an intense, serious look.  
"But as it is now, the FBI is not officially operating in Japan and I doubt you would follow my instruction to stay out of trouble anyway."

The thief chuckled a bit. "Touché – you know me well."

Heiji had listened long enough. "Ok, enough of the chit-chat! We have ta make a plan!"

Kid grinned. "A _really good_ plan!"

* * *

**A/N: **Kaitou Kid appears! I know that there are different opinions about his actions in DC, but when he is good enough for Aoyama-sensei to attend in the Mystery-Train, who am I to kick him out of my story (and psst...I'm a fan-girl *gg*)

Finally I gathered all my characters in the safe house, so you know what that means for the next chap! ;D

I hope you enjoyed!? See you in the next chapter!


	13. An impossible wish

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter thirteen  
An impossible wish**

ooOO-OOoo

After the man had taken the blood sample from him, he'd been left alone again. He'd lost track of time. First he'd tried to count the hours, bur after he'd fallen in an exhausted sleep, he had no idea how much time had passed since he'd woken up in the storage room at first.

He felt hungry, but that was something he could deal with. More difficult to ignore was the thirst.  
How long had it been since he'd drunken the last time? His throat was dry and it hurt when he had to chough.

When Bourbon came to him in Momozono-san's house, he'd brought water with him, but Conan had had no chance to drink it.  
Well, who would think of drinking water, when his biggest secret was about to be revealed?

His body ached all over from the uncomfortable position his bounds forced him into. Would they just let him die here?  
Didn't they want to interrogate him? What if his warning came too late for Ai and Hakase to leave the house in time?  
What about Ran, Kogoro and all the others? The organization knew the truth about Kudo Shinichi; all of them were in the firing line.

It drove him insane not to know what happened to his friends.

_'Why haven't I told Ran sooner?'_

Now that the worst case had happened, he saw that it didn't matter if she new or not.  
It wasn't likely that Gin or whoever would ask for it, before he pulled the trigger.

He had to admit it – he had been afraid. Afraid, that she would hate him and that was nothing he could stand.  
The longer he'd lied to her, the more difficult it had been to only think of telling her the truth.

Now she knew, but he had no chance to explain his reasons to her.

This has not been the way he'd wanted her to find out.

He had hoped that when he finally tells her, it would be with his real voice and in his real body.

That 'Edogawa Conan' would be just a faint memory...and that they would have time.

He tried to repress the thought, that they would possibly never have time together again.

At the clicking of a key in the lock, his gaze shot to the opening door instantly.

A woman he knew all too well came in sight. She closed the door and leaned against it.  
Her blond hair flew down like cascades over a black leather catsuit and a matching short jacket.

"Oh Silverbullet – what have you gotten yourself into this time?" Vermouth sighed.

"That's nothing for you to…" he had to stop, bescause of a chough attack.

"Ok, I see. Here you go."

She knelt down beside him, cut the tape on his wrists and ankles and helped him to sit up.  
In her left hand he could see a bottle, which she held out to him.

"Drink! Don't be afraid. It's not drugged or poisoned – just water," she smirked.

Conan held the bottle in both hands and took a first sip. He had to restrain himself not to gulp down the entire content at once.

Vermouth stood up again. "You may be relieved to hear, that your friends were gone before Bourbon made his little visit."

He lowered the bottle and closed his eyes thankfully for a moment, then looked back at her. "What now? Are your killers out there to find them? To eliminate everyone who knows me?"

"Actually we are in a difficult situation. Sure – we want the traitor Sherry and we can't afford to let anyone run around freely with information about us, but we don't like to draw too much attention. Killing many people, who are connected with each other, will definitely be suspicious."

She took out a cigarette and a small, golden lighter. The flame licked on the cigarette until it gleamed red.  
After inhaling deep, she blew out the smoke slowly.

"Bourbon made a mistake by taking you right there and then. If he would have been a bit more patient, he could have caught you later without being seen and could have kept his cover as Mouri-sans apprentice." She didn't sound disgruntled - rather a little amused.

After another pull on her cigarette, she gave him a slightly haughty smile. "Don't worry. We won't go out there and shoot wildly all your friends. It would be a too small step to connect a missing boy with the sudden deaths of people knowing him. A bit too unusual for a kidnapping, don't you think?"

_'Could it be true? Are they safe for the moment?' _

He'd love to believe her, but his experiences with the organization had disabused him and he snorted, "So you will do nothing and hope they will investigate my disappearance as a normal kidnapping – never find me and leave it as a cold case?  
That will never work and you know that." He narrowed his eyes. "Stop treating me like a fool. What are you up to Vermouth?"

She sighed. "Geez, you are no fun."

"I've been told so before," he said unimpressed.

"It is true! For now the boss wants to hold back, but this won't last long. A sniper here, an accident there – sooner or later he will get rid of all people who came too close."

Vermouth looked silently at his tense expression for a moment. "As you already know, I have always played by my own rules.  
I've followed the orders the boss gave me, but I've been free to come and go as I pleased."

She snapped the fag-end away. "Things have changed. For a while now, I'm not longer going conform with the guidelines. Maybe I'm becoming weak? Who cares?" she shrugged.

"The boss noticed that too – thanks to Gin – and began to limit my movements. I have to act soon. I want out, but I don't want to hide for the rest of my life as a chased traitor like Sherry."

She smirked. "Surprised? You've heard right. I will help you to bring them down– but not for the cost of my life and freedom!"

He stared at her, still disbelieving. "You want to…how?"

"I started my plan the day Kir 'shot' Akai Shuichi. I'm sure you have been involved?"

Conan nodded and she gave him an approving look.

"Just as I thought. I never believed in his death and a few weeks later you had a roomer at the Kudo mansion. Coincidence? I don't think so. You would never let an unknown person live at your home. I paid him a visit and afterwards, I was sure that Okiya Subaru is Akai Shuichi. After all, I'm a master of disguise myself and I can see a good one if it stands in front of me"

"So you knew the shooting has been just a show. What about Kir?" Conan asked.

"I don't care about the NOC. She was well aware of the risks when she came back, but I didn't give her away," she said in a snide tone.

"Whatever – I've spent more time with the researching department to get an overview about their projects and to be able to steal this." She reached in the pocket of her jacket and showed him its content on her palm.

"Is this…?" his breath caught up in his throat as he looked at the small pill.

"Yes! This is the original poison APTX 4869."

He frowned. "Why did you have to steal it. Isn't it used like 'working material'?"

"Yes, but they are not longer using the original poison. They altered it a bit and from the prototype there are just a few pills left for researches. I had planned to give it to you. With this, Sherry would have been able to create a permanent antidote. Back in your real body, you would have received some very incriminating material, which would have put you in the position to go against us."

Conan couldn't believe it. _'Everything would have been over soon…and then I had to slip up! I am such an idiot!'_

Vermouth could read his feelings straight from his face. _'Sorry Cool guy – but fate can be a bitch sometimes.'_

He tried to compose himself. His voice was rasping – now more from frustration than from thirst. "I think your plan is not longer an option."

She nodded. "As Bourbon called me and asked about 'Kudo Shinichi', I've been a bit…worried. Rightly, as one can see. I followed him after he dropped you off here."

Throwing her hair back, she said, "Normally I like to work with him. He is not as grumpy as some other men in the organization, but now he was about to ruin my plans. He'd made things more complicated." She seemed to be really disappointed and lost in her thoughts, before she continued.

"Here comes the rest of the story in short: When Bourbon arrived at the house Sherry hid in, he found it empty. He spent the night there and sent some very interesting data to our research department. As he wanted to leave, he 'collided' with Akai, who'd locked him up in your basement after a little interrogation. Bourbon didn't look like he would go anywhere sometime soon."

"What about Ran? Depending on how late it is, she must have noticed by now that I am not in the hospital.  
I'm also sure that Haibara will not sit back and do nothing."

"Oh yes, she calls herself Haibara Ai now, right? How cute," the blonde scoffed.

"She would be well advised, to keep a low profile instead of trying something stupid as rescuing you, but as I remember, she ran to you as fast as her short legs could carry her, when we met in the harbor." She took a glance at her wristwatch.  
"It is ten a.m. now and your girlfriend is not at home. I went there after I checked on Bourbon and found just her very drunken father, so yes – I think she noticed."

Conan bit his lip. _'Oh no! I hope she won't do anything reckless. Kogoro is as useless as always! Crap!'_

"What does your boss want from me? I don't know where Ai is hiding and he has her researches already. What are his goals anyway?" he asked a bit afraid of the answer.

"His goals? Money, might, the secret of youth…the list goes on."

"The secret of youth? He wants to be immortal? That's an impossible wish!" he said unbelieving.

"Is it?" Vermouth asked softly. "Look at yourself – look at me. We are the living proof that we can turn back the time. The boss is not stupid. He doesn't want it for himself. He knows that staying young forever is more a burden than a gift, but there are enough people who would pay any price to be young again. Fools!" she almost spit out.

Conan looked at her curiously. "You didn't take the APTX willingly, did you?"

"It wasn't the APTX and- no…" Her gaze seemed to be absent. "It was an experimental substance that until now never could be made again. The APTX4869 was really meant to be an untraceable poison and beside you and Sherry we've had no more unconfirmed deaths."

She looked back at Conan pitying. "Now that the boss knows that APTX has the potential to rejuvenate, all the scientists have just one order:

To wring the secret from your body and create the perfect formula of youth."

* * *

**A/N: **I'm late again! I'm so sorry!

But finally we are back with Conan and our lovely Vermouth has her appearance :D

Some little infos about this chap's connections to the real manga:

- in chapter 812, Sera finds a glass with lipstick on it in the Kudo mansion. In my story, that's from Vermouth's visit.

- Vermouth's sentence in chapter 380: _"Since we're trying to raise the dead against the stream of time" _That's why I'm going with the "the-boss-searches-for-youth" idea (like many others :D)

Meow and Guest: Thank you so much for your review! I hope you enoyed this chapter as well :)

all: Thank you for following my story and for leaving so kind reviews! I'm always smiling like a maniac, when I see a new review :DD


	14. Plans and unexpected acts

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter fourteen  
Plans and unexpected acts**

ooOO-OOoo

"They…they are going to use me for their creepy experiments?" Conan asked horrified.

"Your reaction to the poison is rare. The chance to induce it again by feeding APTX to other people is rather low, what doesn't mean that they are not trying it," Vermouth said disgusted.

"Unlike Sherry, our scientists have access to the best equipped laboratories, plus they have the APTX4869. They are working fast, so we have to bring you out of here as soon as possible." She noticed that Conan's gaze was blank. "Hey –"  
She snapped her fingers in front of his face, causing him to snap back into reality. "Are you listening to me?"

He had to force his thoughts away from the terrifying scenarios his mind created. _'Focus on something else! Like a way how to get the hell out of here! And where is 'here' anyway?" _"You haven't told me where I am now. I assume we are at your headquarters?"

"You're right. We are in the building of a company named 'Kurosake Pharmaceutics' in Chūō."

Conan looked at her skeptical. "The black organization is a pharmacy company? Although the name 'Black Sake' matches your high percentage code names and your discreet wardrobe."

"Stop the mockery. This is just the current facade. From time to time the boss switches the public known company. But behind it, you'll always find the same cruel man and his loyal followers."

He couldn't say if she was proud or sarcastic. Most likely the latter, but after she had been a member for such a long time, he was sure that she held at least a little bit of respect for the boss.

Conan tried to catch her gaze and asked the one question that made his thoughts spin since he had been shrunk. "Who is he?"

Eventually her eyes met his. "You have met him before and I have been at his side. You will find out soon enough. He won't miss the chance to meet his 'fountain of youth' in person." With a snort she shook off the grossed out feeling that went with this thought. "It would be better if your surprise is real at that moment. He has a sixth sense for fakes."

_'I have met the boss already? When? Where?'_

He waited a moment for Vermouth to continue, until he was sure that she would say nothing more. He sighed and decided to change topics. "These incriminating materials you spoke of, can you give them to someone who would be able to help?"

"Sure. Who do you have in mind?"

_'Good question…Haibara and Hakase have gone into hiding. My parents are too far away - if we are able to contact them at all. Maybe Hattori? He is in Osaka – no, wait! He wanted to come by for a visit. Vermouth can call…"_

"Argh!" he facepalmed.

"Are you alright?" Vermouth raised an eyebrow.

He wanted to yell, but remembered that it may be a bad idea. Instead he hissed the words and slammed his fist on the concrete floor. "I don't have my freaking mobile with me, so you can't contact any of my friends who know about me, being in this damn pint-size form."

"Wow - you are cursing a lot when you are frustrated my dear," she smirked.

"Oh, shut up," Conan grumbled. "What sort of material is it anyway?"

"Reports of some illegal transactions, corruption and, as a cherry on top, information about some unsolved murder cases. That should do it, don't you think?"

"That's amazing!" Conan's face lit up. "With that, we can even inform the police!"

"You are asking me to go to the police? Seriously?"

"You've just called yourself a master of disguise, didn't you?" he teased her with a sly grin." How good is your kansai-ben?"

"Good enough to pass as your osakan friend. That's what you're planning, right?"

Conan nodded. "As we can't contact the real Hattori, we take you as a replacement. He has planned to come by today...I am sure he noticed already that I am missing. Maybe he met with Haibara and Hakase and if we are lucky, Ran is with him too."  
_'Would be one thing less to worry about.'_

"What if he went to the police department instead of meeting with the two? They would be more than surprised to see two Hattori's, don't you think?"

He shook his head. "I'm sure Ran told him what happened at the tennis-court. Hattori knows that I've been suspicious about Amuro and knowing that it was him who brought me 'to the hospital' he will try to contact Haibara and Hakase. Without enough evidence he won't involve the police."

Conan looked at her intensely. "Talk to Megure-keibu, Sato-keiji or Takagi-keiji. Only to these three! They are familiar with Hattori and will trust him. If possible, don't tell them that I am Kudo Shinichi, but if it can't be avoided – involve them."

Vermouth hummed in agreement. "So I'll walk into the police department as Hattori-kun, talk to your police friends and give them the information. They'll set up a task force to bail you out and to bring down a deadly organization." She winked at him. "Should be a piece of cake."

Conan rolled his eyes. "One more thing. Ask them to involve the FBI. They will be helpful."

"OK, then I'll leave ya now, as I have a job ta do," she grinned.

"That was quiet scary…" he deadpanned flatly.

In that moment the door was opened again and Conan tried his best not to look caught.

"Vermouth." The entering man nodded at her. "I'm afraid I have to take our guest to his new room now. You can talk to him later again – after our first round of tests."

The man, obviously one of the scientists, went over to Conan. "Why is he not bound anymore?"

Vermouth gave him a reproving look. "My dear Akamoto-san… I thought you would prefer him more vivid and not near to death caused by thirst. Do you think you can handle an unbound child or do I have to help you?" Her gaze was cold and piercing.

"Uhm…no! Sure…I can handle him," Akamoto stuttered.

"Good!" She smiled in sweet sympathy. "I will leave him to you then."

Vermouth turned around and looked at Conan seriously before she left.

_'Hang in there Silver bullet. I hope for you, your police friends will act really fast.'_

ooOO-OOoo

Ran jolted up with a gasp.  
Panting and sweating she needed a while to realize that she had been dreaming. _'It was a nightmare…just a nightmare.'_

Due to this much too real dream, she felt groggy. She sat up in the bed and surveyed her surroundings. After a moment of confusion, she remembered where she was, what had happened and why she had dreamed of a suffering, screaming and bleeding Shinichi.

Immediately she felt like crying again. _'No! Stop it! You've cried enough and it won't help Shinichi the least bit, so pull yourself together!'_

She breathed deeply in and out a few times, got up and made her way to the small bathroom to refresh herself. At the kitchen table she saw Jodie – fast asleep. Searching for Haibara and Agasa, she found them sleeping as well in another room. Heiji and Akai were nowhere to be found.

She reached for a blanket and placed it over Jodie's shoulders. _'It's been a long night for all of us,' s_he smiled sadly.

In the bathroom she looked in the mirror and sighed. She was pale and her eyes were red rimmed. She turned up the faucet as cold as possible and splashed the water into her face.

Back in the kitchen she gave the coffeemaker a suspicious look. She didn't like coffee and this one was lukewarm at best, but she needed something to revive her senses.

The coffee mug in hands she leaned against the fridge, sipping at the bitter tasting liquid. _'Unbelievable how much has changed since yesterday. I've made breakfast for Conan-kun and otou-san, we've been excited about our trip to Izu, we had fun on the tennis-court and then…'_

Agasa had told her over and over again, that it hadn't been her fault and deep inside she knew that, but she couldn't help it. She felt guilty. She wished there would be something she could do. Sitting around - waiting and fearing, was nothing she could bear.

She looked at the sleeping Jodie. _'Maybe I should wake her up, so she can lie down in a bed. Else she will probably have an aching neck later.'_

Walking over to the agent and leaning in closer to shake her softly, Ran glanced over the papers on the table – and stopped before her hand reached Jodie's arm.

_'These are ground plans and printouts about a company named 'Kurosake Pharmaceutical'. Could it be…'_

Her pulse sped up. With wide eyes she stared at the papers. '_They found him! This must be where Shinichi is! Are Heiji and Akai gone to rescue him? Why didn't they wake me?'_

She could answer that herself. They didn't want her to get in their ways. But she couldn't help it. She needed to be there – to do everything possible to get Shinichi back safely. It was like something inside drew her there.

She studied the plans - tried to memorize them. _'So many floors. No chance I can remember them all.'_

An idea hit her and she set down the mug and pulled out her cell phone. With the built-in camera she shot a few photos of the plans and the printouts.

_'This will do it. He rescued me so many times, has always been there for me. Now it's my turn. Hold on Shinichi – I'll get you out!'_

All warnings from Heiji and Agasa were forgotten at the chance to help her best friend – to help the boy she loved.

She tiptoed to the elevator.

The '_ping_' of the arriving cabin sounded awfully loud in her ears. Fearfully she listened for a moment if anyone had woken up.

As nothing happened, she bit her lip and pressed the button for the underground parking-lot.

ooOO-OOoo

Ran was born and raised up in Tokyo. She was used to the traffic, the noise and the crowded streets. But now, for the first time in her live, she felt unsafe and vulnerable. She found herself looking over her shoulder more than one time, felt eyes on her back and startled at sudden movements. She felt haunted.

_'Is this what Shinichi has been through? Always afraid of shadows and suspicious of black dressed people?' _

She opened the photo with the company address on her phone and searched for the connection to Chūō on the train schedule. A glance on her watch told her that it was 15.19 p.m. and the next train would leave in six minutes.

In the train she was almost overwhelmed by a panic-attack. _'Calm down Ran. It's not like they'll shoot you in a jam-full train.'_ But she couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling.

Finally she stood across the street from the company building and tried not to look suspicious, as she observed the entrance.

It was a modern building, the facade mostly made of glass and steel. Darkened windows protected the workers from the summer heat and kept out curious glances. Only a few people in business attire entered or left through the revolving doors.  
_'Most likely sales representatives_.'

How should she blend in with them? And what if her face was known already? She had no desire to go in there, just to be captured right away. _'Maybe there is a backdoor, an entrance for suppliers or something?'_

She was about to cross the street, as a hand covered her mouth and she was pulled in a dark alley.

Ran wanted to resist and prepared herself for a shoulder throw, as a voice hissed into her ear, "What do you think you're doing here Mouri-san? Are you insane?"

_'This voice…'_

She stood still and waited until she was released out of the firm grip. She had heard this voice in her dreams and she longed to embrace the belonging body.

Turning around to face her attacker, she looked at an unfamiliar young man, who was dressed like the sales representatives she'd watched before. Over his arm hung a white cloth, which looked like a lab coat.

Ran's hopes were shattered. "Who are you?" she asked wary and confused. "And how do you know me?"

He blinked at her for a second - then he realized what was wrong. "Ahh - I forgot! You slept when we discussed the plan. I have to apologize for my rudeness."

He grinned at her and served an elaborate bow. "I'm known as Kaitou-Kid." With a flick he produced a white rose and held it out to Ran. "Gentleman-thief. Fancy meeting you, Mouri Ran."

* * *

**A/N: **Last night an idea for a later chapter hit me and I _had _to write it. Because I had some trouble with chap 15 anyway, I obeyed happily :D  
It kills me to have all this ideas in my head and no one to talk about it! I think I have to write faster, so I can discuss it with you guys ;D  
Anything special about this chappy?...uhm...oh yes:  
- Akamoto is an OC. He has no alcoholic name - he hasn't earned it until now.  
- Ran's recognation of Kid's voice is based on the japanese dubbing, in which he and Shinichi have the same voice.

I hope you had fun :D Take care! See you in the next chap!


	15. Got mixed up with what?

**DISCLAIMER**:I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter eighteen  
Who am I ?**  
(Part two)

_'Oh great – a question and answer game is just what I need right now. Are you kidding me? I think Hakase would love it – it sounds like one of his stupid Kanji-quizzes'_

He sighed '_Don't think I have a choice. Let's see – the first one should be _金_. Readings are 'kin', 'kon','kana' and 'kane'. Together with _城 we get _'unassailable castle'. The readings for _城 _are 'jou' and…'_

He gasped. _'No – this man…I've met him so long ago. I just remember this case so well, because Ran had tried so hard to find that karate-champ's alibi and because it was about the 'Night Baron'. The answer had been right in front of me – laughing at me!' _

He remembered what Vermouth had said to him earlier. That she had been with the boss at that time. What meant, that she must have been his female employee. Shinichi hid his surprise and anger as good as possible and tried to answer in his typical detective manner. '_If talking just wouldn't hurt so much. Get a grip Kudo – If he wants to play, give him a good game.' _

"You can read it also as 金-Kane… and城-Shiro…玄 for 'gen' just means black or mysterious. I know just… one man with that name… and that one pretended to be blind… and to be the boss of a computer company…We met… at the competition for the computer virus 'Night Baron'…" He needed a short brake to recover his breath.

"Am I right… Kaneshiro Genichiro?"

ooOO-OOoo

They were ready – finally! To instruct the task force had taken forever to Heiji, while the time was running out.

Megure had been enraged as the back-up team reported from the Kudo mansion, that they had to free Sato and Takagi out of the basement.  
He blamed himself that he hadn't taken the tipster more seriously. Fortunately both of them were unharmed, except for some bruises on Takagi's neck.

No lead of what happened to Bourbon could be found.

Now, Heiji drove with Jodie to the place of action, but was forced to stay behind in the car – much to his distaste. At least he was allowed to be there, unlike Hakase and Haibara. Not that the girl had been eager come with them anyway.

She had told everything she knew about the members and the structure of the black organization. Most of it he had already heard from Kudo.

For the task force two main points were left: Catch as many of them alive as possible. Shoot if someone points a gun at you – he won't hesitate to kill you.

Heiji clawed his fingers so hard in the passenger seat that his knuckles turned white, as the company building came in sight.

_'Please - don't let us be ta late! _

ooOO-OOoo

A slow clap came out of the speaker.

"As expected from someone who is called 'the savior of the Japanese police'. Well done detective." This time the voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Why?...Just for the money?" Shinichi growled.

Kaneshiro seemed to think about his question, for his answer took some time.  
"Don't you think money is reason enough?"

Shinichi just huffed as a response.

"Ok – you got me. So you remind my disguise as old, blind man and no – that's not how I'm actually looking like.  
Do you as well remember what I've told you about the 'Night Baron' and its meaning to me?"

Shinichi racked his brain. Gosh – it was ages ago and the 'old man' hadn't been the culprit, so he'd just put him aside after the case had been solved.  
But he remembered, that on this case he had felt that certain glare that had often warned him when he had been watched by someone of the organization and he hadn't been able to place it that time.  
_'So it had been his glare I have felt. Think Shinichi – what did he tell you? Wait! Hadn't there been something about a son that had died?'_

"I can read it in your face – you know the answer. Yes, I had a son –Kiyoshi – who died due to hepatic failure. Happens all the time you could say, but he wasn't a drinker. He wasn't allowed the slightest sip of alcohol – his liver couldn't process it. He suffered from several illnesses and infantile brain damage and had to stay inside. Computer games had been his greatest enjoyment and so I invented many of them for him. As you see, the computer company hadn't been a complete lie. One of my games – his favorite one with mystic elements like vampires and werewolves - became a huge success. The market is hard-fought and the competition destroyed my game with the virus 'Night Baron' – warning me to never invent a game again. Kiyoshi was outrageous and depressed.

I wasn't at home that day, but when I entered our house, I found his nurse crying in his room – rocking my unconscious son in her arms and repeating over and over that it wasn't her fault, that she had given him the chocolate to calm him down. Next to them lay an open box with candies and a card saying 'Remember - your game is over'. The candies contained high percentage alcohol and he ate just one, but it was enough. He fell into coma and the doctors gave him seven months at most. During this time I invested all my money to find a cure for him and to find that bastards who had sent this 'present' to us. The police was no help at all, but I found them."  
Kaneshiro said in a voice that sounded like the promise of death.

"I found this organization that was already active for about fifty years. The boss was a greedy ice-cold killer.  
All he was thinking of was how to rule the underground organizations all over the word and how to increase his wealth. I was just a tiny problem for had been hired to destroy my game and to blackmail me. And therefor Kiyoshi had to suffer!" He shouted and heavy breathing sounded from the speaker before he continued. His voice – cold and callous – let Shinichi shudder.

"I killed him and took his place. It was easy enough, for no one of his underlings knew who he was. I let most of the 'business' go on as usual. The high ranked members took care of that anyway. They arranged the death of the leader of the competitive computer company at my command. I felt the might my new position gave me. Suddenly I had all the options I needed to help my son. I could hire as many scientists as I wanted and let them find the cure.

Accidently they found a substance that had the power to rejuvenate. The testing person was twenty years younger after taking it and all health problems were gone. I thought I finally found it – but we weren't able to reproduce it. At least I knew now for what I was searching. It was the secret of youth. I redoubled my efforts, but it was in vain – Kiyoshi died and with him everything dear to me.  
At this point I adopted the behavior of the old boss. I gave my best assassins alcoholic names, for alcohol had been the silent killer of my son.

Now money is everything that counts to me and the secret of youth will make me as rich as no one has been before. Guess how surprised I have been, when I overlooked Sherry's researches. What a pity that she turned out to be a traitor. Her parents did such a good job with APTX4869. Who would have thought that this poison would be my pot of gold? We just have to alter it further, so we can control how much younger it makes one – oh, and the thing with the deadly effect of course."

"You are…insane! Hhngg…" Shinichi hissed as pain flooded his body again.

"You may be right, but I think our time for talking is over now. My scientists will take over again. Even though one of my best assassins knows who I am, for I'm not making the same mistake as my predecessor, my scientist know nothing about my person. So please excuse me; it was a pleasure to meet you detective. Cheers!"

The speaker gave a last cracking sound, before it went dead. A second later the door opened again and Akamoto, Joshura and Sakai entered.

Shinichi's mind tried to process what Kaneshiro had told him, to analyze it as he usually did, but he was completely occupied with the drug that was burning its way through his veins. He heard Akamoto's rough voice.

"Joshura-san – check his vitals. Sakai-san – take care of the brain-monitors."

A cold hand took his wrist and searched for his pulse.  
_'Why is her hand shaking?'_

"Joshura! What are you doing? Get that clipboard and write down what the heart-monitor shows. Can't be that hard!" Akamoto snapped at her and was answered with a quiet "Uhm."

Shinichi fought to open his eyes. _'What's up with her? She had been very forceful until now.' _Adjusting his blurry vision, he glanced at the blond woman.  
Her head was bent over the clipboard while she seemed stressed about what to fill in. She bit her lips and her big blue eyes wandered over to him – locked with his own, which went wide in cognition.

_'No! Not her – not here!'_

It was the last thought he was able to bring off, before his mind shut down as suddenly the pulsing pain evolved again and made him yelp and his world became black once more.

* * *

**A/N: **Uff...done! I hope my ideas are making sense and you didn't get lost along the chapter. ^_^*. If you have questions - I'll be happy to answer them for you :D  
Sorry for the long monolouge of Kaneshiro, but Shinichi was a bit too out of it for a deep conversation. XD

TheNargana: as you know by now Kiyonaga Matsumoto wasn't right, but it's a very good idea! Who knows - maby he will be Gosho-sama's Anokata!? :)

Ja, matta! See you in the next chapter!


	16. Allies and traitors

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter sixteen  
Allies and traitors**

ooOO-OOoo

"We can't meet here. Maybe we need the safe-house later again and the arrival of several cars could give us away. …Yes, Hattori-kun is back… No! – It wasn't him who gave you this information. No matter how persuasive they are – be careful until we know who our strange tipster is…Ok – I'll call you back."

Jodie pressed the little red button on her phone and turned to the others. "Seems like we have an unexpected ally in this battle. Someone with access to top-secret material of our enemy and who is really skilled in disguise. I think…"

"It's Vermouth," Ai stated calmly. So much had happened since the last day, that her mind had become kind of numb and the name 'Vermouth' couldn't scare her more than she was anyway.

Heiji, who ran around in circles, stopped dead in his tracks. "Vermouth! This woman is unpredictable and does nothin' without ulterior motives."

Jodie nodded grimly. She'd made her own bad experiences with this member of the black organization and still she held on to her promise to avenge her father's death. "Why should she want to help us? She is a high ranked member and an ice-cold killer. What would she gain by this?"

Ai was again the one who answered her. "Who knows? Maybe she's aiming for mitigation?" She exchanged a glimpse with Heiji.  
"Although she seems to have a soft point for Kudo-kun. She knew about his secret and didn't sell him – she had more than one opportunity, but didn't shoot him," Ai shrugged. "She likes to be mysterious and follows her own rules."

"A secret makes a women women." Jodie remembered Vermouth's favorite phrase.

"That's all very well, but can we trust her?" Heiji interjected.

"I wouldn't trust her as far as I can spit, but at the moment we need every help we can get. But whatever she has to offer – it wouldn't save her from her right punishment," Jodie clarified. Dialing the inspector's number she said, "I'm going to discuss the meeting point with Megure. Hakase – I think it is time to wake Ran-san. We are leaving soon."

Agasa, who had listened to their conversation silently, stood up and went to the room Ran was sleeping in.

Heiji looked questioning at Ai. "Where is Akai-san? He was still here when I left."

"He left about half an hour ago. Not a hunch where he went. The oh-so-great Akai didn't bother to inform other people about his plans," the girl replied surly.

_'Uhh – we are a bit testy, aren't we? Memo ta me: don't touch this topic again while she is around,' _Heiji thought, when he heard Agasa shouting.

"She's gone! Ran-chan is gone!"

ooOO-OOoo

Since hours he was stuck here in this drat basement room.  
Amuro was off the wall that Akai of all people had brought him in this damned situation.

The defeat was hurting him more than the wound in his thigh, which fortunately wasn't too bad. The bullet had gone straight through and had hurt nothing vital, so his movements weren't that restricted, but nonetheless it was painful and he had to support most of his weight with his healthy leg.

His bag with his mobile phone and everything else was still in the entry hall – if Akai hadn't taken it. His gun and the hard-drive he did for sure.

What he needed now was a way out. He had tried everything possible. The door was solid and the windows and the ventilation shaft were far too small for an adult.

_'Guess being a child can have some advantages, hmm Kudo-kun?'_

Bored he'd begun to search through the boxes stored here. In most of it had been useless stuff like old clothes and decoration. He'd ripped one of the shirts in stripes and patched up his leg. In one box he'd found some sports equipment. Not that he planned to exercise now, but besides surprisingly many flat footballs, it contained a skipping rope and a baseball bat.

At least he was now provided with something that could count as a weapon.

_'As soon as I am out of here I promise you – I will find you Akai!'_

A closing car door let his head snap up. He listened to the approaching footsteps. Glancing out of the small windows, he saw a car and recognized who was coming to the house – producing weapons out of their holsters.

_'Two cops – Takagi-keiji and a woman. Must be his partner.' _Amuro grinned. _'Doable_.'

He took position next to the doorframe – his back on the wall, the baseball bat ready in his hand. The skipping rope lay over his shoulder. Due to his police training he knew very well how they would storm the room.

_'One will kick open the door and step aside, while the second will secure the room with a raised gun. But what if they can see no one in the room? They'll have to take a closer look and come in. It's the oldest trick in the world, but it works surprisingly well.'_

Just at that moment the door burst open and a male voice shouted, "Beika Police Department! Hands up and don't move!"

Amuro waited.  
He knew he had just this one chance. He heard both of them breathing in the following silence.

A careful step towards the door.

Another one.

A shadow fell over the threshold. _'Just a little bit closer…'_

As the officer finally stepped into the room, Amuro slammed down the baseball bat on his head and drew the falling, groaning man to his chest. Wrapping the skipping rope around his neck he held him as a shield in front of him.

"Takagi!" the woman shouted and pointed her gun at Amuro.

"Let him go! _Now!"_

Amuro smirked at her – pulling on the rope, what caused the befuddled Takagi to hiss in pain. "I don't think so. I suggest you put your gun to the ground, if you don't want to witness your colleague's early death."

Sato clenched her teeth, but obeyed.

"Your phone as well if you don't mind." He smiled sarcastically. He was strong enough to hold up the currently defenseless officer with one hand while he took out Takagi's phone and threw it out of the room to the other. "Now it's my pleasure to invite you in. Come on – make yourself a home."

He gave Sato space to walk into the basement room. As she passed him, he twisted the rope a bit tighter. Takagi panted and had to hold back a whine as the thin plastic material cut in his skin.

Amuro could see that she had to keep her temper and he held her furious glare with an even brighter smile than before. "Good girl! And now take your cuffs and chain yourself to the pipe over there. Don't worry; your dear friend will follow you in a second. Oh, - and your keys please."

He waited until she'd followed his orders and dragged Takagi to another pipe – using the officer's cuffs to chain him too and took his keys as well.

For the first time Takagi got sight of his captor and gasped. "You!? But…you are Mouri-san's apprentice! You've even helped us on some cases! What…'

"Aww…I'm sorry – I lied to you. I'm one of the bad guys," Amuro interrupted him. He picked up the gun Takagi had dropped near the door and swirled it around his finger.

"And now, if you'll excuse me – I have to find a friend of mine and shoot him."

_'Don't know if I should be glad or embarrassed that they've only sent two cops to arrest me,' _he thought as he left the appalled officers, locked the door to the basement and took Sato's gun.

He wasn't an unscrupulous killer. Not that he would hesitate to use his gun if it was really necessary, but if possible he delegated the dirty jobs. He would send someone to get rid of these two as soon as he was back at the headquarters.

After limping up the stairs, he cursed when he found his bag. The complete content lay scattered all over the entry hall. Just as he had thought – his gun, the hard-drive and his phone were gone.

_'Damn it! With this leg I can hardly drive my car or take the bus. I need someone to pick me up.'_

He thought a moment who to call and dropped his head frustrated.

_It had to be him, right? It's the only number I've memorized. And that just, because he got a new one and I had to safe it in my phone yesterday. I hate to call him – I will never here the end of it.'_

He sighed, but went over to the house phone and dialed.

"What?" a rough voice snapped at him after picking up.

_'In excellent mood – as always,' _Amuro grimaced. "This is Bourbon. I need a lift."

"First Vermouth and now you…Who do you take me for? A cab driver? Did my Porsche turn yellow over night?" Gin growled on the other end.

Amuro replied angrily, "No – but I got hurt while I tried to clean up _your _mess! So stop combing your hair and _move your ass over here_!"

ooOO-OOoo

Gin's green eyes stared at Amuro in the rear-view mirror, who answered with a steady gaze.  
_'Why does he always have to look like a psycho? Does he really think it impresses me?'_

As Gin concentrated on the traffic again, the blonde rolled his eyes annoyed. Gin and Vodka had picked him up only twenty minutes after his call. He'd spent the time waiting with deleting the number memory in the phone and searching for a first-aid kit to bandage his wound properly.

In the car he had told what had happened so far, but held back the information about the two cops in the basement.  
He had no need for a condescending comment from Gin. They would be dead soon enough and until then, they won't do any harm.

Most likely Akai had called them as Okiya and told something about a burglar. He was the type who tried to deal with everything single-handed and he would not like to be hindered by the police; what would be the case if he involves them in his hunt after the organization.

"So this little brat is actually the high-school detective Kudo Shinichi? And Sherry has been the one who changed his status to 'confirmed death'?" Gin mused.

"That's what Vermouth has told me. The change is tagged with Sherry's ID-code. She hid with him since the day she disappeared," Amuro replied.

"Then it was this filthy snooper, who helped her on the rooftop back then. He will pay me for that!" He absently rubbed his arm where he had shot himself in that night, then lightened up a new cigarette.

"Smoking is really unhealthy, you know?" Amuro teased him. He knew it was stupid to provoke Gin, but he couldn't help it.

"Shut up!" Gin snarled. "It may have been my fault to trust in the poisons deadly effect, but it was _your_ fault to let Akai get away and you even managed to get shot by him." Again, a pair of green eyes tried to pierce through his head.

Before Amuro could bring out an equal answer, Vodka tossed in, "You've mentioned that Sherry had been warned by this Kudo Shinichi. Doesn't that mean that they are after us right now?"

Gin gave him a sidelong glance. "For sure they are assembling their forces, but who could that be? A little girl, an old man and a bunch of FBI agents." He looked in the rear-view mirror again and a devilish smirk spread over his face. "Don't turn around!" he ordered. "One of our friends is right behind us. I think Akai came to check upon his house guest. Seems like you'll get a second chance Bourbon. Don't blow it!"

Amuro narrowed his eyes and inspected the gun he'd taken from Takagi. "You are luring him into a trap? Alright…" He worked the slide of the gun with a smug grin. "This time you will die for real – Akai Shuichi!"

ooOO-OOoo

The warehouse was located in a backstreet near the docks. It belonged to a company that hasn't been able to pay the black organization. After the sudden death of the leaders, the company had been closed. Now all workers were gone and the sun burned down on the empty concrete yard.

Gin had made sure that Akai was following them with sufficient distance, to be prepared for his arrival.

Amuro stood impatiently in a shady corner in the building. He wanted revenge for the bullet wound and his hurt pride. For the third time he checked his gun, when he heard a clicking sound and felt the cold metal of a gun barrel, pressing against his temple. He froze and glanced sideways over a silencer and a shimmering black Beretta, straight into Gin's cold eyes.

"Did you really think I would let you take the final shot at Akai?" Gin said with grim amusement. "He is all mine and _you _Bourbon, have made too many mistakes."

Amuro could see the satisfaction in Gin's face, as he continued. "First you blew your cover by taking the child in bright daylight – then you gave him the chance to warn Sherry and on top, you allowed Akai to get on our track. The boss didn't like that at all."

Beads of sweat formed on Amuro's forehead, as he saw how Gin's finger bent around the trigger. Gin must have talked with the headquarters after their phone call and obviously he had received the order to let him kick the bucket. In and of itself that was not surprising. Mistakes were never tolerated in the organization and elimination was the typical punishment. But never had Amuro thought that this would be _his_ fate.

His eloquence and intelligence had always been his best weapons. He hoped they wouldn't fail him now that he had to convince the deadliest assassin of the organization of his indispensability. He steadied his voice and adopted a nonchalant tone. "Gin, are you really…"

"Another flaw of yours that always annoyed me; you talk too much!"

_*phiu*_

The silencer swallowed the noise as the bullet left the barrel and found its way through Amuro's head. His blond hair turned to crimson, as he sank to his knees with blank lifeless eyes and slumped forward.

Disgusted Gin turned away from the bloody mess on the ground. A headshot never was a pretty sight.

_'And now it is your turn, Akai.' _His fingers slid over the scar under his left eye._ 'I owe you a bullet for this one.'_

He waited for Vodka's signal and grinned, as his partner nodded to him.

_'With one thing Bourbon had been right. Today you will die! That traitor-bitch, Kir, will be next and then I will deal with Sherry and her precious detective.'_

* * *

**A/N: **Uhhwaa...I killed him o.O! My first FF-death. I' so sorry Amuro - R.I.P *sobsob*  
Aaand our lovely Gin enters the stage - I hope you like him and his is 'Gin' enough :D

As usual, I've relied to your comments by PN, but for the guests without an account: Thank you so much for your reviews! *hugs*

See ya in tha next chap! ;)


	17. No more games

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.**

* * *

**Chapter seventeen**  
**No more games  
**

ooOO-OOoo

"I can't reach her! Her phone is turned off," Heiji told upset. "What tha hell is she thinkin' ta leave without notifyin' anyone!? Kudo will kill me, if anythin' happens ta her!"

His outburst was interrupted by Jodie, who was still speaking with Megure. "Ran-san is gone? Oh my god – keibu, we have a new problem!" Listening to the inspector, Jodie's eyes wandered through the room and stopped on the coffee mug on the table and the plans beneath it. "Yes – I have an idea where she is. I pray that I am wrong. We'll see you at the meeting point." After disconnecting she tried to call Akai, but had no luck.

"Ok – seems like Ran-san went off to rescue her friend all by herself. That means we have to act faster and we can't wait for Kid's report. Heiji – try to reach him. Maybe he can find Ran-san and stop her, before she is running into her likely death. Come on – we are leaving!"

Heiji dialed the number the thief had given to them, while following the others down to the car. Again a recorded message told him, that the phone was not available at the moment.

_'Shit! Why can't girls just do what they are expected ta?'_

ooOO-OOoo

Ran tugged uncomfortably at her disguise. The blond wig itched and she sweat underneath it. The lab coat was slightly too big for her. After all, this should have been Kid's spare disguise, if he would have to shed the one he was wearing right now. Fortunately he was lean built and not much taller than Ran. He just had to make small changes, so it would not be too obvious, that this was clearly not her lab coat.

"Stop the fumbling! Or do you want to blow our cover right from the start?" Kid whispered in Ran's ear, giving a brief nod to a passing man, who wore a similar outfit to theirs.

Kid had spent most of the time since the meeting in the safe-house with observing different employees, to learn their rights of access in the areas. Disguised as a pharmacy representative he had gained easy access to the lower floors and had been able to keep an eye on the in and out going people. Fascinating what a briefcase, a suit and a self-confident attitude could do for you. As the phrase goes: Fine feathers make fine birds. As long as you seem to know what you are doing – no one will bother you.

His now and then slightly changes of his appearance did the rest. He didn't want to be remembered as the guy who ran up and down the corridors.

Obviously the company was running a normal working routine and nothing suspicious occurred.

After some time he saw two employees he had also seen in the last night and stuck to their heels. He had been right – both of them entered the security area. They had to show an ID card, which the guard pulled through a reading device, type in some kind of PIN or code and had to press their index finger on a scanner. The man seemed to outrank the women, as she yielded him precedence.

Kid waited until they went out for lunch – gassed them both with his sleeping gas, tied them up and took their clothes and ID-cards. Their fingerprints were now on ultra-thin gloves, which looked and felt like real skin and the lab coats were a bit altered to fit him. His biggest problem was the code. He had seen someone enter a code yesterday, but it had been longer than that one today. Did they change the codes on a daily basis? If yes – the members needed some kind of information about the new code, which most likely wasn't the black board. Mobile phones and computers with internet access were too easy to hack. He searched the pockets of the lab coats and found something that looked like a pager. Checking the last message he grinned. Just one incoming message and it was a combination of letters and numbers.

Prepared with a male and a female disguise, he had waited for the right moment to go back into the building, when he had seen neechan.

He was still cursing inwardly, but he didn't dare to leave her behind after he had seen the determination in her eyes. If he had not taken care of her, she would have gone off on her own and that would have meant – big trouble.

Ran on the other hand had her own awkward feelings, while she was walking through the corridor alongside the thief.

Could she really trust him? The others seemed to count on his help, but – he was a thief! A non-violent one, but nonetheless criminal. _'Come one Ran – who could be better at helping you in this, than someone who is a criminal himself? Shinichi had never been afraid when he'd attended one of his heists. Quite the contrary – he had been exited to solve the riddles and to chase the moonlight magician.'_

She relaxed a bit until a thought stroke her. _'The others! They don't know that I am with Kid! And now it is too late to call them. We are already in the building and Kid insisted to leave the phones outside, so they won't give us away when somebody finds them on us.'_

The guilt stabbed in her stomach, but she wouldn't turn around, now that she was so near to Shinichi. Somewhere in this building he was held captive and she was here to help him!

Kid felt the girl straighten up next to him. _'That's right – show some confidence.'_

They neared the check point on the tenth floor. The guard took their ID-cards quietly. A green light indicated the successful registration of Kid's card. He typed in the code he had memorized and pressed his finger on the scanner. Two more green lights flashed up and the guard gave him a nod.

Ran's card was next. After the first green light, it was her turn to type in the code.

A red light – she had made a mistake! The guard raised an eyebrow and Kid tried to save the situation. "Thick fingers today?" he asked harshly. "Don't waste my time – hurry up and try again!"

Ran gave him an embarrassed shrug and waited for the guard to signal her to enter the code again. This time it worked and after her fingerprint was scanned successfully, she was allowed to pass as well.

After they rounded a corner, Ran sighed with relief. Kid frowned and hissed at her. "Pull yourself together! I know you are not used to this kind of stuff, but at this rate they will catch us in no time!"

Ran bit her lips and nodded barely visible.

Their first goal was to get an overview of the observation cameras, number of guards and escape routes. If possible, they would search for Shinichi, but just when they could do it without risking to be discovered. The rescue should be pulled off with back-up from Akai and Jodie.

On the floors ten and eleven, they had seen many scientists – busy with experiments and taking notes, but nothing special,  
so they took the elevator to the next floor.

They had made just a few steps out of the parting doors, when a man approached them.

"Where on earth have you been so long?" he snapped at Ran. "Come on – we need you for the bioscientific documentation."

With that he sped down the corridor. Ran had no choice, but to follow him – casting Kid a help seeking glance. The thief thought about going with her, but the man had clearly just addressed Ran. If the man he impersonated was not part of the team, it would be suspicious to accompany them. He cursed under his breath and followed them as inconspicuous as possible.

ooOO-OOoo

At the meeting point – a house in the Chūō district, not far away from Kurosake Pharmaceutical – the gathered people listened to Megure, while he summarized the recent events. "Kid is in the company building to gain a better overview for the rescue. I still can't believe that we are working with a thief…"

Megure shook his head, before he continued. "Ran-san is most likely also at or even in the building – hopefully unharmed. No one knows what Akai-san is doing and you say our tipster is a member of this organization?"

"Yes!" Jodie confirmed. "I'm afraid we have to trust her information, for we have nothing better at the moment."

"If they are really correct, we can close more than one cold case and it is more than enough to go officially against this pharmacy company," said Megure. He and his team had seen through the papers and were astonished in how many criminal deeds this company was involved. Since parts of them were connected with cases overseas, the FBI and CIA would have been contacted anyways.

"So I think it can be assumed that this woman – Vermouth – called us to the Kudo mansion, to arrest one of the organization members," the inspector mused. "Sato-keiji and Takagi-keiji are taking care of him right now."

Ai stared at him. "You've sent them there alone?! Bourbon is the one who kidnapped Edogawa-kun – he is very dangerous!"

Megure looked at the girl irritated. "Be assured – they are my most reliable stuff members and…"

"You are underestimating him!" Ai cut in sharply. "Don't make this mistake, or the whole operation will end in a disaster! Call them!"

Baffled Megure did as he was asked – no, commanded from a girl that was still in elementary school. He let it ring ten times on Takagi's phone – then tried to reach Sato. None of them answered. Worry spread in Megure and with harsh orders he sent a back-up team to the Kudo mansion. He turned back to the girl. "Now to you, young lady. What do you know about this organization that you are so good informed about their members?"

Ai paled, as she noticed what she had just said in her panicked state. Should she really tell them everything? It was true – she could help a lot with her knowledge, but who would listen to a child that wasn't supposed to know anything about deadly organizations? She could try to give the information to Hattori or Jodie, who would pass them on to…Oh my gosh – how complicated! They were going to bring them down, so maybe this tiring game of hide and seek was no longer necessary. It would mean to reveal her's and Kudo's identities. Could she make the decision for both of them? What if the operation failed? The responsibility lay heavy on her shoulders.

"Tell him." Ai startled at Heiji's sudden statement. He squatted down in front of her. "What use is it ta keep his secret when he dies therefore? Maybe it's for tha best this way. Do ya think he would blame you, if only he makes it out of there alive? And for yaself – aren't ya tired pretending ta be someone else?"

She looked down. Her strawberry-blond hair covered her eyes as she began to speak. "Alright then – no more secrets." She lifted her head and her steady upward glance met Megure's confused one.

"My name is Miyano Shiho and I am a former member of the black organization. My codename was Sherry and I worked on the poison APTX4869, which was fed to the nosy high school detective Kudo Shinichi, with the intention to kill him, after he had witnessed a criminal transaction of the organization."

Megure's eyes grew wider and wider in disbelieve with every word, but she wasn't nearly done.

"It failed. Instead of killing, it just shrunk him and he went into hiding as the grade schooler Edogawa Conan. The organization killed my sister and I betrayed them – taking my own drug. As you can see, I am not dead. I share his fate and since then Kudo-kun and I are hiding from them while trying to bring them down, creating an antidote and getting our lives back"

"Conan-kun is…and you are…" The inspector was lost for words.

Heiji grinned at him and patted his shoulder. "Take yar time keibu. All at once is a bit much, huh?"

ooOO-OOoo

Gin leaned relaxed against a pillar and took a deep pull on his cigarette. Bourbon's dead body lay behind him –half hidden in the shadows.

He could feel that his mortal enemy was near. Vodka had seen Akai in the yard and had taken his position in the other dark corner of the hall. If everything went according to his plan, the FBI snooper will take his last breath in a few moments and he, Gin, will be the one to dispatch him. He had enough of their game and if anything would go wrong, Vodka would take the shot for him.

Gin was a killer all through, but he was also a man. A very possessive man. Akai had dared to take Miyano Akemi from him. The only women he had ever really wanted. As long as Akai had been in the organization, Gin's hands had been tied. He had watched them, observed them with growing hatred, while he consoled himself with the younger sister. Little Shiho had been a very nice distraction. And then – finally Akai had shown his real face and had to run back to his useless FBI colleagues.

It came in very handy that Akemi agreed in the one billion yen robbery. She gave him the perfect excuse to eliminate her. First she had dumped him and then she betrayed the organization. Her death had given him satisfaction, but as long as Akai was alive, his vendetta wasn't complete.

_'Come on Akai – let's bring it to an end. The time for talking is long gone. Show me your dirty face, so I can blow it up!''_

There – the noise was scarcely audible. Gin knew that Akai stood next to the open gate. Another deep pull and his cigarette was done. The stub fell uncared to the ground. Gin raised his Beretta – his favorite gun. He didn't care for honor or fairness. Way too often Akai had gotten away. All that matters now was his death.

The corrugated iron was thin – thin enough for his bullets to go through. Again a faint sound reached his vigilantly listening ear.

_'There you are!' _His grin was near to insanity as he shot; one – two – three – four.

A painful outcry told him that he had hit his target. Carefully he went to the gate. A wounded animal was the most dangerous one. With a headnod Gin signaled Vodka to give him cover.

He could hear the hissing panting and it was like music in his ears.

Vodka leaped out of the hall and was immediately under fire. He cursed and tried to doge the bullets, but one graced his arm.

Gin used the distraction and shot the gun out of Akai's hand. He towered over the badly injured man, who leaned against the gate in a sitting position and glared up to him. One bullet had gone through his chest and blood purred out from under his hand, which was pressed on the wound.

Gin raised his gun at Akai's head. This time the headshot would be deadly.

"Say 'Hi' to Akemi."

* * *

**A/N:** Gin's list of death: Bourbon 'check', Akai 'check' - three more left *muhahaa*  
Yea - ok...so this chappy was written faster than I'd expected. Seems like the charakters are dropping like flies, now that Gin is on the loose, huh? This time I'm not sorry - I don't like Akai...*shrug* *scatters purification salt*  
I hope Gin is not too OOC...I had to make something up to explain this whole 'mortal-enemy'-thing.

Thanks for your support and for reading my story! *hugs*


	18. Who am I? (Part one)

**DISCLAIMER:I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.**

* * *

**Chapter eighteen  
Who am I?**  
(Part one)

ooOO-OOoo

The blond woman stood in the apartment she had rented under a false name. No one had lived here since she'd signed the rental agreement and no one in the organization knew about this place. It was her ticket to freedom. No bed and no wardrobe could be found in here - just a desk with a laptop on it and a wooden chair.

Her slender fingers swept over the closed black lacquered computer. Today she had added the last entry and after the door would close behind her, she wouldn't come back.

The information she had given to the police had just been a small piece of her work. Just enough to let them come into action. In this room, on this laptop was every name and every company that was connected to the black organization. As a high ranked member she had access to most parts for the company databank – the rest she had gathered in months of unobtrusive researches. Bourbon wasn't the only one who knew how to hack into systems without leaving traces.

As soon as the word was spread that the organization was uncovered, very many people would act rapidly to save their money and lives. It would take the police ages to question the members and even longer to get the right answers out of them – if they would ever talk at all. And then it would be too late. All evidence would be destroyed by then and they would never be able to catch all of the mighty men, lingering in the shadows all over the world.

She would offer to the police the only way to shatter the organization completely – and her price was a new life. No jail, no prosecution no further contacts. The actress Chris Vineyard would also vanish as the killer Vermouth.

She would sell the whole organization - her boss, who had destroyed her life, had killed her daughter and let her – Sharon – take her place after testing this damned substance on her. Yes – she looked young and beautiful to the world, but inside she felt old, worn out and ugly.

_'You've been right Akai Shuichi – I am indeed a rotten apple,' s_he thought with a sad smile.

After a last look at the laptop, she left the apartment and put the keys into the mailbox.

Now she just had to make sure, that this bastard had no chance to escape – and that her Silverbullet would hit its target.

ooOO-OOoo

He had never felt so tired in his whole life. He had no strength left to do so much as lift his arm to look at his own hand. At the slightest movement pain would run through his body, leaving him gritting his teeth and holding his breath until it faded. But still he yearned to watch his fingers, touch his face and to use his legs – because they were his own again.  
Fully grown – not longer small and fragile.

He'd had this feeling already five more times today, after they had forced him to swallow the temporary antidote again and again – just to try an altered youth-drug every time his body was strong enough to bear it. He was sure that his heart couldn't stand this changing back and forth much longer.

Just about five minutes ago – or half an hour? He wasn't sure about time spans anymore – Sakai had given him another one and now waited for the drug to kick in, while she noted something on the clipboard before she hung it back to the bed.

Shinichi tried to concentrate on something – anything to distract him from his situation. He closed his eyes and evoked happy memories to brace himself against the surely soon coming pain.

Ran and he on a swing – flying higher and higher.

Both of them on a rooftop – viewing a beautiful sunset.

His parents – smilingly waving at him.

Ran's hand gripping his on the Mystery rollercoaster.

Agasa Hakase - showing proudly a new invention to him.

Ayumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ai – cheering with him after a solved case.

Hattori - turning around his cap with a bright grin.

And over and over again – Ran's beaming face.

He felt a lump in his throat and his eyes burned, but his body was even too exhausted to cry.

A creaking sound stopped his thoughts and he could hear a male voice he couldn't place. It seemed distorted and came out of a speaker in a corner of the ceiling. "Hello detective. What a pleasure to meet you again in person – well – almost in person," the man greeted amused.

Shinichi's mine whirled. _'This must be him – the boss of the black organization.'_

He knew his voice would betray him and he just let out a disgusted snort.

"Now, now – no polite answer and no smug phrase? My dear scientists must have really drained you. But don't worry – I've never expected anything else. You may be proud to hear that they are making fast progresses due to your kindly efforts."

"Efforts?" Shinichi forced out wheezing. "You mean due to your torture!"

"I'm sorry to hear that. I hoped that you would appreciate being part of it. I think I shouldn't be surprised – regarding who you are and why you are here. It doesn't matter anyway – just one or two more tests and we will be able to give the drug to other testing persons; without causing their death immediately."

_'Vermouth had been right. They _are _working fast'_

"Sakai-san," the voice commanded through the speaker. "Leave us alone."

"At once!" Sakai bowed to the invisible man and left the room.

One of the cameras made a zooming sound and Shinichi felt the intent gaze through the lens. He felt the urge to flinch but constrained himself to lay still. For nothing in the world would he show weakness in front of this man.

"You know detective, I didn't' like the way you interfered with some of our operations. But I have to admit that I am impressed how long you managed to stay hidden. Must have been tough to live in such a tiny body. Too bad that you are lost for our side. With your intellect you could have been one of my top men."

"I would never…_never_ work for someone…like you," Shinichi hissed.

"I know, I know…Well then – I'm not just here to see you suffer. I think for all what you have been through, I owe you an answer before you will leave this world. The answer you are longing for such a long time. You are a brave young man and you deserve to know who your grim reaper is."

"I'm really touched…Fire away…as it happens…I can spare some time," Shinichi pressed sarcastically.

"Charming until the end," the voice laughed. "You see - I once called someone who could have been a threat for us "Silverbullet". Do you know why? Because of the real name of our organization. A Silverbullet is special. Not only can it kill like every other bullet, it can even shoot down a werewolf. Otherwise you could say werewolves are bulletproof. I like to call my best agents 'wolves'. With them, our organization is also 'bulletproof' – unassailable like a castle.

Our color is black, like the night and the shadows we are acting in. We are the bulletproof Black Castle. 'Kinjougen' on Japanese. Do you know the Kanji for this? I'm sure you do. Now tell me detective– who am I?"

* * *

**A/N: **Muhaha Finally! We meet the Boss! And now it is up to you, my dear readers, to tell me his name! (Shouldn't be too hard I think ;D - but then again..it seems always easy, when you already know the answer *g*)  
I hope you can follow my weird thoughts and it makes a bit sense at least...  
The solution will be in the second part of this chapter.

Thank you so much for your reviews!  
See ya :D


	19. Who am I? (Part two)

**DISCLAIMER**:I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter eighteen  
Who am I ?**  
(Part two)

ooOO-OOoo

_'Oh great – a question and answer game is just what I need right now. Are you kidding me? I think Hakase would love it – it sounds like one of his stupid Kanji-quizzes.'_

He sighed. '_Don't think I have a choice. Let's see – the first one should be _金_. Readings are 'kin', 'kon','kana' and 'kane'. Together with _城 we get _'unassailable castle'. The readings for _城 _are 'jou' and…'_

He gasped. _'No – this man…I've met him so long ago. I just remember this case so well, because Ran had tried so hard to find that karate-champ's alibi and because it was about the 'Night Baron'. The answer had been right in front of me – laughing at me!' _

He remembered what Vermouth had said to him earlier. That she had been with the boss at that time. What meant, that she must have been his female employee. Shinichi hid his surprise and anger as good as possible and tried to answer in his typical detective manner. '_If talking just wouldn't hurt so much. Get a grip Kudo – If he wants to play, give him a good game.' _

"You can read it also as 金-Kane… and 城-Shiro…玄. 'Gen' just means black or mysterious. I know just… one man with that name… and that one pretended to be blind… and to be the boss of a computer company…We met… at the competition for the computer virus 'Night Baron'…" He needed a short brake to recover his breath.

"Am I right… Kaneshiro Genichiro?"

ooOO-OOoo

They were ready – finally! To instruct the task force had taken forever to Heiji, while the time was running out.

Megure had been enraged as the back-up team reported from the Kudo mansion, that they had to free Sato and Takagi out of the basement. He blamed himself that he hadn't taken the tipster more seriously. Fortunately both of them were unharmed, except for some bruises on Takagi's neck.

No lead of what happened to Bourbon could be found.

Now, Heiji drove with Jodie to the place of action, but was forced to stay behind in the car – much to his distaste. At least he was allowed to be there, unlike Hakase and Haibara. Not that the girl had been eager come with them anyway.

She had told everything she knew about the members and the structure of the black organization. Most of it he had already heard from Kudo.

For the task force two main points were left: Catch as many of them alive as possible. Shoot if someone points a gun at you – he won't hesitate to kill you.

Heiji clawed his fingers so hard in the passenger seat that his knuckles turned white, as the company building came in sight.

_'Please - don't let us be ta late! _

ooOO-OOoo

A slow clap came out of the speaker.

"As expected from someone who is called 'the savior of the Japanese police'. Well done detective." This time the voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Why?...Just for the money?" Shinichi growled.

Kaneshiro seemed to think about his question, for his answer took some time. "Don't you think money is reason enough?"

Shinichi just huffed as a response.

"Ok – you got me. So you remind my disguise as old, blind man and no – that's not how I'm actually looking like. Do you as well remember what I've told you about the 'Night Baron' and its meaning to me?"

Shinichi racked his brain. Gosh – it was ages ago and the 'old man' hadn't been the culprit, so he'd just put him aside after the case had been solved. But he remembered, that on this case he had felt that certain glare that had often warned him when he had been watched by someone of the organization and he hadn't been able to place it that time. _'So it had been his glare I have felt. Think Shinichi – what did he tell you? Wait! Hadn't there been something about a son that had died?'_

"I can read it in your face – you know the answer. Yes, I had a son –Kiyoshi – who died due to hepatic failure. Happens all the time you could say, but he wasn't a drinker. He wasn't allowed the slightest sip of alcohol – his liver couldn't process it. He suffered from several illnesses and infantile brain damage and had to stay inside. Computer games had been his greatest enjoyment and so I invented many of them for him. As you see, the computer company hadn't been a complete lie. One of my games – his favorite one with mystic elements like vampires and werewolves - became a huge success. The market is hard-fought and the competition destroyed my game with the virus 'Night Baron' – warning me to never invent a game again. Kiyoshi was outrageous and depressed.

I wasn't at home that day, but when I entered our house, I found his nurse crying in his room – rocking my unconscious son in her arms and repeating over and over that it wasn't her fault, that she had given him the chocolate to calm him down. Next to them lay an open box with candies and a card saying 'Remember - your game is over'. The candies contained high percentage alcohol and he ate just one, but it was enough. He fell into coma and the doctors gave him seven months at most. During this time I invested all my money to find a cure for him and to find that bastards who had sent this 'present' to us. The police was no help at all, but I found them," Kaneshiro said in a voice that sounded like the promise of death.

"I found this organization that was already active for about fifty years. The boss was a greedy ice-cold killer.  
All he was thinking of was how to rule the underground organizations all over the word and how to increase his wealth. I was just a tiny problem for had been hired to destroy my game and to blackmail me. And therefor Kiyoshi had to suffer!" he shouted and heavy breathing sounded from the speaker before he continued. His voice – cold and callous – let Shinichi shudder.

"I killed him and took his place. It was easy enough, for no one of his underlings knew who he was. I let most of the 'business' go on as usual. The high ranked members took care of that anyway. They arranged the death of the leader of the competitive computer company at my command. I felt the might my new position gave me. Suddenly I had all the options I needed to help my son. I could hire as many scientists as I wanted and let them find the cure.

Accidently they found a substance that had the power to rejuvenate. The testing person was twenty years younger after taking it and all health problems were gone. I thought I finally found it – but we weren't able to reproduce it. At least I knew now for what I was searching. It was the secret of youth. I redoubled my efforts, but it was in vain – Kiyoshi died and with him everything dear to me. At this point I adopted the behavior of the old boss. I gave my best assassins alcoholic names, for alcohol had been the silent killer of my son.

Now money is everything that counts to me and the secret of youth will make me as rich as no one has been before. Guess how surprised I have been, when I overlooked Sherry's researches. What a pity that she turned out to be a traitor. Her parents did such a good job with APTX4869. Who would have thought that this poison would be my pot of gold? We just have to alter it further, so we can control how much younger it makes one – oh, and the thing with the deadly effect of course."

"You are…insane! Hhngg…" Shinichi hissed as pain flooded his body again.

"You may be right, but I think our time for talking is over now. My scientists will take over again. Even though one of my best assassins knows who I am, for I'm not making the same mistake as my predecessor, my scientist know nothing about my person. So please excuse me; it was a pleasure to meet you detective. Cheers!"

The speaker gave a last cracking sound, before it went dead. A second later the door opened again and Akamoto, Joshura and Sakai entered.

Shinichi's mind tried to process what Kaneshiro had told him, to analyze it as he usually did, but he was completely occupied with the drug that was burning its way through his veins. He heard Akamoto's rough voice.

"Joshura-san – check his vitals. Sakai-san – take care of the brain-monitors."

A cold hand took his wrist and searched for his pulse. _'Why is her hand shaking?'_

"Joshura! What are you doing? Get that clipboard and write down what the heart-monitor shows. Can't be that hard!" Akamoto snapped at her and was answered with a quiet "Uhm."

Shinichi fought to open his eyes. _'What's up with her? She had been very forceful until now.' _Adjusting his blurry vision, he glanced at the blond woman. Her head was bent over the clipboard while she seemed stressed about what to fill in. She bit her lips and her big blue eyes wandered over to him – locked with his own, which went wide in cognition.

_'No! Not her – not here!'_

It was the last thought he was able to bring off, before his mind shut down as suddenly the pulsing pain evolved again, made him yelp and his world became black once more.

* * *

**A/N: **Uff...done! I hope my ideas are making sense and you didn't get lost along the chapter. ^_^*. If you have questions - I'll be happy to answer them for you :D  
Sorry for the long monolouge of Kaneshiro, but Shinichi was a bit too out of it for a deep conversation. XD

TheNargana: as you know by now Kiyonaga Matsumoto wasn't right, but it's a very good idea! Who knows - maby he will be Gosho-sama's Anokata!? :)

Ja, matta! See you in the next chapter!


	20. Panic

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter nineteen  
Panic**

ooOO-OOoo

Ran stood with Akamoto at a closed door. A brunette woman just came out and had told them they'll have to wait a while.  
Akamoto swore that it won't be his fault, if they were going to lose data, because of the interruption.

Ran just listened with half an ear. She was too busy cursing her bad luck that had separated her from Kid and left her with this scientist, who behaved like a madman right now. _'Come on Kid! This would be the perfect time for one of your magic tricks. I have no frigging idea about bioscientific documentation.'_

She looked over to the brunette and Akamoto, who had finished his outburst and now stared at the door, as if his glare could make it opening faster.  
Instead, the door next to Ran was opened and a man gestured them that they could enter now. Akamoto waved impatiently at her and nearly pushed Ran into the room – where she froze.

A teenager lay restrained on the bed – sweating and heavy panting.  
Oh god - how badly had she wished to see him again in his true form and there he was, right in front of her. But the sight of him tore her heart apart and sent tears into her eyes. She was about to sob and to cover her mouth with one hand, when Akamoto's orders brought her mind back to her current situation. "Joshura-san – check his vital signs. Sakai –san – take care of the brain-monitors."

_'If I give myself away now, they will kill us both. Shinichi looks already, as if he has reached his limits. But he is alive! We still have a chance!'_

Ran swallowed hard and stepped to the bedside. She settled her scattered thoughts and tried to remember what she knew about vital signs.  
All she could come up with was what she had learned in the first aid curse they absolved with the karate team on a regular basis. Hesitantly she took his wrist and shoved the cuff aside to check his pulse. His skin felt way too hot against her trembling, cold hand. She longed to wipe away the sweat from his face- to do something; anything to make him feel better.

"Joshura-san! What are you doing? Get that clipboard and write down what the heart-monitor shows. Can't be that hard!"  
Again Akamoto's voice had kept her from doing something really stupid. She reached for the clipboard and gave him just an "Uhm," as answer.  
Even if she would have been able to imitate voices as perfect as Kid, never could she speak a word with such a big lump in her throat.

Nervously she glanced at the monitor and back down at the form on the clipboard with no idea what to fill in. She bit her lips and looked helplessly at Shinichi, as if he knew the answer.

Instead of his squeezed shut eyes, she met two questioning looking ones. She sank into them – drowned in the azure blue color.  
Then she saw how he recognized her and how his expression turned from pained to panicked, before he let out a loud yelp that scared her to the core. She wanted to close her eyes and cover her ears to shut out the scene in front of her, but even more she wished she could just hold him;  
give him her strength and comfort until the pain faded.

She wasn't allowed anything of it. All she could do was to watch helplessly how he struggled and lastly fainted. A look at his shaking body revealed her that he was still hurting, even in his unconscious state. _'God, what have they done to him? What can I do now and where is this damned thief when you need him?'_

Suddenly the heart-monitor gave a loud, fast beeping tone that startled her.  
"He's going into cardiac arrest. Joshura-san – defibrillation!" Akamoto commanded.

Ran couldn't move nor could she say something. She felt numb at the sight of her flinching friend and the wildly beeps of the machine.  
Someone shoved her rudely aside and Akamoto rushed to the bed; the paddles of the defibrillation machine in his hands. "Sakai-san – charge! – Step back!" The electrical impulse raced violently through Shinichi's body. Some seconds later Akamoto repeated the process.

Ran was in a state of shock. Her brain refused to acknowledge that the twitching boy on the bed, who could be dead the next moment, was indeed her Shinichi. _'No… no nonoNO! This can't happen! Not to him! He will be fine!' _She repeated the thought like a mantra until, after the third shock, Sakai finally gave the all-clear. "Heart rate down to normal; sinus rhythm."

Akamoto sighed. "Ahh – would have been a pity to lose him before the change. His breath is a bit shallow. Give him a breathing mask." He turned to Ran and shouted, "What the hell is wrong with you? Have you lost all of your wits during your lunchtime?" Ran clutched the clipboard like a shield to her chest, as he railed on._ 'He will notice it. He will see that I am not the real Joshura and then I am scuppered.'_

With a loud '_bang'_ the door burst open and drew Akamotos attention from her.

_'Finally,' _she thought relieved_. _'_Was about time Kid.'_

Turning to the door she stiffened. She had expected to see Kid in his disguise or even in his white suit, not a man in a black coat with long, silvery hair. Piercing eyes glared over an outstretched arm and a gun. With a voice that sent shivers down her spine he said, "Hand him over to me!"

Akamoto looked at the gun, speechless for a second and then his temper heated up again. "No way! The boss ordered these tests and not even you, Gin, have the right to interfere! Get lost and let us do our work!"

"Are you looking out for an early death?" Gin growled. "You are not on my list yet, but he is. Aside from that, you have no time left for your precious work anyway, because the police is about to storm the house. So, if you don't want me to add your name to my list – .Over!"

"The police? But how…why…?" Akamoto stuttered.

"Thanks to him," he gestured to the bed, "and this useless idiot Bourbon, they found us. But I won't go down so easily. Not until I had my revenge and _he_ will lead me there. He will lead me to _her_."

Akamoto hastily backed away. No one who wasn't completely crazy would stay between Gin and his target. Therefore he watched dumbfounded how Joshura brought herself between the teen on the bed and the killer in black.

Gin stopped. "What the…"

"Don't lay a single finger on him!" Ran stood there – both arms protectively outstretched to the sides.

Gin just gaped at her. He wasn't used to people who wouldn't obey his orders, but he recovered fast from his surprise and found back to his snidely smirk. "Today everyone just seems to _want_ that I shoot him. For all I care – as you wish."

Pointing the gun to her head, his finger bent around the trigger. Ran's view zeroed in on the barrel. _'Maybe a well aimed kick…'_

_'Puff!' - _Smoke filled the room and left everyone blind and coughing, except for the thief – now in his trademark uniform – who leaped to Ran and dragged her to the ground; just in time to avoid Gin's bullet that bore into the wall.

With lightning speed Kid untied the detective, who was slowly coming to, but was in too much pain to stand alone. Now without the breathing mask, Shinichi began to chough as the rest did. "Hurry!" Kid hissed at Ran. "Help him out of here. I will lead you the way and distract our trigger-happy friend."

Ran felt how Shinichi's weight was shifted onto her shoulder, supported him as good as possible and followed Kid's lead. All of a sudden everywhere in the room was screaking noises that covered their own steps and coughs. She heard Gin curse as he blindly fired bullets in the smoke. They just made it through the door and a few steps down the corridor, as the room behind them blew up in a fireball. They tumbled to the ground and the heat licked on their backs. "What was _that?" _Ran cried out.

"Think a bullet hit the oxygen-tank next to the bed." Kid responded a bit breathless, while he hoisted Ran and Shinichi back to their feet. "Come on now!" He glanced nervously at the surrounding laboratories. "We have to find a way out of here, before everything goes up in flames."

ooOO-OOoo

Heiji hated to be left behind. All he could do was listening to the police radio they had installed in Jodie's car to keep up with the operation. In a few minutes they would begin to seize the building. He peered out of the window and observed the entrance. A car arrived and stopped in front of the revolving door. Heiji took in a sharp breath. It was a black Porsche 356 A and the man who got out of it, had been described to him by Kudo very detailed.

_'Shit! It's Gin! Tha shorter man must be Vodka then. I have ta inform Megure and tha others!'_

He grabbed his phone and dialed the inspector's number. Holding it to his ear he heard nothing. He looked at the display.  
_'Shoot! Tha battery is empty! This radio has just a receiver, not a sender. So I have ta go there myself!'_

Heiji knew very well that Megure had listened to Haibara's explanations as he had himself, but he was willing to use any excuse to be in the game. Once he was with the task force, he doubted that Megure would send him back to the car. He opened the car door and sprinted down the street.  
For security reasons Jodie had parked as far away from the building as possible without losing sight of the entrance.

Some policemen observed the building out of hidden places to pass on everything suspicious to the inspector who waited with the rest of the task force in the next street. In the windows and on the roof tops across the pharmacy company, snipers had taken their positions.

As he was about to reach one of the policemen, the roar of an explosion was heard out of the building. Heiji skittered to a halt, spun around and left it to the officer to speak with Megure. In no time he reached the revolving door and shoved through it. The entry hall was in chaos. The fire alarm blared and employees fled from the upper floors and ran out on the street. _'Think Megure's men will have their hands full out there.'_

Searching for the staircase, he pushed through the crowd. The elevators were out of order due to the fire alarm.

_'Tenth floor and beyond. Good thing that I am in my best shape ever, after my extra training for the tournaments.'_

ooOO-OOoo

The fire was spreading fast. All the chemicals gave enough food to turn it into a blazing inferno. Kid, who now supported the weak detective, sped down the corridor, followed by Ran. The only advantage of the fire was the panic it caused. Nobody paid attention to them; not even to the white clad thief, who definitely would else have been an eye-catcher. The stairway down was crammed full of people. On the tenth floor they were forced to make a break, as Shinichi toppled. Kid's hand grabbed his arm tighter to steady him, but the detective's knees gave in and he sank groaning to the ground. Kid dragged him to the side, out of the way of the passing people.

"Shinichi!" Ran knelt down, the clipboard which she was still clutching, skidded out of her hold. "Stand up! Please! We have to get out of here!" she sobbed and grasped his hand. She paled; his skin was even hotter than before. Her other hand flew to his forehead. He was burning up and obviously in intense pain. He squirmed; his grip on her hand was almost bone breaking but she didn't let go.

"Ran…" he panted. "in a…few moments…you can… carry me. AAargh!" He screamed as the well known pulsing set in.

"Thank heavens – I've found ya! Are you alright?" an osakan tinted voice called out. Heiji stopped beside the thief and gathered his breath.  
"This is a madhouse! I think most of tha people are out by now and we should follow their example right away or…" He faltered as he saw in which condition his friend was. "Shit! Kudo! Yar changin'?"

The only answer he got was an agonized outcry.

* * *

**A/N: **I just blew Gin up in a fireball, did I? o_O This wasn't planned - it just turned out this way. Actually I could use him for the next chapter...  
maybe he made it somehow out of the room? I don't know - that was a quite huge explosion. We will see...  
I think Akamoto was a really stupid and aggressive men - bad combination when you have to deal with Gin. If it hadn't been for the fire, I'm sure  
Gin would have shot him. ^_^*

Ok - enough of my babble. Anything important about this chap? Don't think so...If you have any questions - just ask me :D

FanficEater: Thank you so much! I really try to stick to the original plot to make a believable ending :)

Stormie: I know what you mean. I feel the same way about stories I really like. And as happy as I will be when I've finished this one, I will be sad that it's over. But we haven't reached that point so far ;D

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your reviews! Ja matta! *hugs*


	21. Descent into hell

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter twenty  
Descent into hell**

ooOO-Oooo

"Hattori-kun, do something!" Ran pled fearfully. Her eyes never left Shinichi's face like she was paralyzed.

"What?" Heiji asked, looking very lost.

"You knew about this – you have been with him when he changed before!" Her voice begged him for help.

"Yea, but I've never actually _seen_ it. He always dealt with this all by himself. 'am afraid all we can do is wait 'till he is Conan again," he said awkwardly.

_'All by himself? He had to endure this alone every single time?' _She thought back at when she had seen him at his true age. The day they had met Hattori-kun and Shinichi appeared to solve the case. He'd seemed ill this time; like he had at the school-play and in that village where they had encountered this guy who pretended to be Shinichi; and in London. '_London – he didn't use the words, but he had never been closer to say that he loves me.'_

Ran took a deep breath, bedded Shinichi's head in her lap and took both of his hands. "You are not longer alone in this Shinichi – you'll never be again! You can do this! Hold on to me; don't you dare leaving me now!" she said insistently with a determined expression.  
Their gazes met for a moment and she saw thankfulness in his eyes.

She could feel how it began. How his fingers became smaller and she had to tighten her grip, so his hands would not slip out of hers.  
It frightened her, but she wouldn't. let. go!

Kid saw the first signs too. To give the young man as much privacy as possible in this moment, he spread his cape over his trembling body;  
covering it with the smooth, white fabric. _'Hang in there Meitantei.' _He turned around to block the two on the floor from the last few people, who hasted down the stairs.

Heiji wasn't sure where to look at. The scene in front of him had a very intimate touch, what made him feel like an intruder. Kudo was barely conscious; hissed breathes escaped through his gritted teeth. Ran was holding onto him for dear life. _'Ya could have had this support much earlier Kudo, ya know? Better late than never,' _he thought with a small smile as he turned around as well and waited until the last and inevitable most painful scream signaled him that the transformation was finally over.

"He passed out," Ran said quietly, holding Conan in the folds of the cape. He looked very fragile against the white cloth. "Is it always that bad?"

Heiji sighed. "Ya've heard his screams yaself before, so no point denyin' it. He doesn't always faint, but he seems ta be really worn out, so…"

"Can we discuss this anytime later?" Kid tossed in. "There is still a huge fire above us and ten floors between us and the exit."

"Come on, let me help ya," Heiji said and took the little boy out of Ran's hesitant hands, so she could get up.

Kid reached out for her and hoisted her to her feet. "And off we go!"

As soon as she stood, Ran pulled back. "Wait – where is the clipboard? We have to take it along. There might be important data on it," she said and searched the floor frantically. "Ah, there it is!" She reached down for it, as a part of the ceiling gave in and crushed down on her. At the very last moment, Kid dragged her out of the danger-zone and both tumbled towards the stair that led down.

A second later Ran jumped up again and tried to get across the burning debris. "Shinichi!" she shouted.

"We're fine!" Heiji's voice came through the flames. "Kid – take Ran and get her out! We're searchin' for another exit route. See ya outside!"

"No – _Shinichi!"_ Ran screamed again, now held back by Kid, so she wouldn't burn herself.  
"Mori-san, we have no time! They will take the stairs on the other side!" The thief took her hand and forced her to follow him. Pressing the clipboard to her chest, Ran glanced over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of the two boys; but all she could see was fire and black billows of smoke.

ooOO-OOoo

Heiji paced down the corridor to the opposite side. From the ground plans he knew that there was a staircase as well. This floor was spared by the fire until now, but he felt the heat radiating from above and smoke was filling the air already. At any moment the fire could break through. Feeling his friend stirring, he looked down at the white bundle in his arms. "Long time no see Kudo," he greeted the confused-looking boy, who tried to clear his head from the cloudy darkness.

Conan surveyed his surroundings. "Hattori! Where is Ran; and was that really Kid with her?" he asked. He was still dead tired and every part of his body hurt. At least he could breathe freely again.

"Uhm, yea – ya've been really out of it, weren't ya?" Heiji grinned. "Good ta see ya awake and sane again. Kid and Ran-san are on tha way down ta tha exit. And we two my friend, are about ta do tha same. Unfortunately we've been separated by a crumblin' ceilin', but I'm sure, Kid will take good care of her."

Conan squirmed in his arms. "You can take me down now. I think I can walk myself."

"And risk ta be beaten up for it from yar neechan when she finds out? No way! Ya stay put!" Heiji ordered while running. He saw the embarrassment on Conan's face and sighed. "Even if ya could walk, we need ta be fast and I don't think that runnin' around would be good in yar condition. Take it easy and enjoy tha ride."

Conan had no option but to admit that Heiji was right. He leaned his heavy head against the teen's chest, and decided that it wasn't so bad at all.  
They reached the end of the corridor and entered the staircase. Heiji put Conan to the ground and leaned over the banister. "Damn it! This one is also damaged. Tha only way left is up."

Conan nodded gravely. Running to the top of a burning building wasn't the smartest thing one could do, but it was their only option.  
He grabbed onto Heiji's shirt, while latter lifted him up again and started to sprint up the stairs.

ooOO-OOoo

He watched them. The smoke covered his dark silhouette additionally in the corner, where he blended with the shadows. His left hand gripped tighter around the gun; ignoring the burning sensation. The hand had been injured in the explosion, after he had shot the oxygen-tank from outside the room. It hadn't been by accident, but a well-aimed bullet. _'This nerve-wracking Akamoto; I hope he burned to crisp! As for Sakai-san…I think collateral damages can't be avoided,'_ he shrugged._ 'The fire will burn all evidence that could be found by the police. Order from the boss.' _A sinister grin spread over his face while his gaze never left the pair at the end of the corridor. _'You and me 'detective', we are nowhere near done.'_

ooOO-Oooo

As they reached the twentieth floor, Heiji was out of breath. Running twenty floors with just a short break in the middle plus the smoke-filled air drew on his strength. "We are now enterin' tha floors where tha boss seats his butt in a comfortable office chair. Kid described this as 'Fort Knox'."

"Normally it would be, but due to the fire the security systems should be offline," Conan mused.

"How lucky for us. Just look at tha retina scanner and I have no clue what that thin' next ta it should be. Would have been a pain in tha ass ta avoid this." Heiji straightened himself. "Ok, then let's take tha last three floors." With a leery glance he passed the scanner-terminal and entered the corridor. Different from the lower floors it doesn't really look like they were in an office building anymore; more like they had just entered the apartment of someone damn rich. Thick carpets swallowed every step and obviously expensive paintings decorated the walls.

"Tha ground plans showed tha next staircase is…uhm…." Heiji looked around.

"Hattori," Conan said annoyed. "Did you forget the way? Really?"

The currently older boy laughed a bit embarrassed and Conan sighed. "Then we will have to search for it. Can't be that tough."

With Conan still in his arms, Heiji rushed through different doors, but all led into further rooms.  
The teen opened another one and huffed. "Are ya kiddin' me? There must be a way ta tha next floor."

Conan put his hand to his chin. "These rooms are looking very private. We should check the elevators. I'm pretty sure one can use them just for these three floors. Maybe they are connected to an independent electricity supply that is not affected by the fire-alarm."

"But isn't it dangerous ta use elevators when a house is on fire?"

"Barou! This is the elevator for the boss. Don't you think it is special secured against fire, so he can escape safely?" Conan replied.

"True. So let's go."

As they neared the elevators, Conan stiffened. "Stop Hattori!"

"What is…" "Shhh!" Conan shushed him and whispered, "Listen – there are people in the next room."

"Shouldn't everyone be out by now – or at least _trying_ ta get out? Sounds as if they have a nice chat in there." Heiji murmured.

Conan didn't pay attention to him. He was fully concentrated at the voices which were barely audible through the closed door.  
He could distinguish two; one male, one female. Right now the male voice spoke, but Conan waited for the female one to talk again, as it had struck a chord in him. There – now he was sure about the people in the room.__

'Why didn't he flee? And why is she _here anyway?'_

Before he could say anything to Heiji, a growling voice turned his guts to ice. "Now now, isn't it very rude to eavesdrop?"

Heiji turned around to face Gin, who pointed his gun at them. The hand which held up the black beretta was terribly burned, but the man didn't even seem to notice it. His grin was as vicious as always. "Go! Knock on the door as your mother has taught you to do."

Conan just stared at him and Gin's grin became even wider. He forced them to back off as he went to the door himself and made two loud knocks.  
He didn't bother to wait for an answer but opened it right away. The gun still aimed at Conan and Heiji he gestured them to go in.

Two pairs of eyes focused on them. One blue pair wide in shock and a green one mildly surprised.

"Detective! What a pleasure to meet you again. And this time actually eye to eye. Welcome to our little descent to hell."

_

**A/N: **A little delay again, due to a wonderful wedding I attended this weekend and the summer-sunshine that finally found it's way  
through the clouds :D Sorry, but I couldn't waste the good weather ^_^*  
Back to the chapter - Gin is back XD I knew a 'jack-out-of the box' wouldn't work, so I tried the 'sinister-lingering-shadow-shape.

Thank you so much for all your reviews! BIG HUGS!


	22. Over the edge

**DISCLAIMER:I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.**

* * *

**Chapter twenty-one  
Over the edge**

ooOO-OOoo

"Go in there!" Gin ordered and shoved Heiji further into the room. Conan squirmed in his arms. Sore body aside – he would _not _stay in this humiliating position with these people around. Heiji put him on the ground before he would fall down due to his struggle.

He needed a moment to find foothold. His balance wasn't at its best at the moment. Looking up he took in the sight in front of him. Kaneshiro eyed him with an interested smile. For the first time, Conan saw the man without disguise and no speaker was between them. He wasn't the evil looking dark figure Conan had always had in mind when he'd thought about the boss. His appearance was more that of a nonchalant business man. Modern cut suit, short black hair with some grey strands and a clean-shaved face; somewhere between forty and fifty years old. He could have been very handsome, but one look in his green eyes revealed the soul of a ruthless, cruel and cold-hearted man.

More disturbing was just the woman next to him. With her gun pointed at her boss, Vermouth's gaze shot back and forth between him and Conan. Never had Conan seen her so nervous. Thinking about it – he had never seen her nervous at all. Her serenity was kind of her trademark. Now, she formed a huge contrast to the relaxed Kaneshiro, who spoke again. "It's kind of fitting that you accompany us, because I think it's thanks to you that one of my most loyal members turned against me. So it's just fair enough that you'll join us on our last journey."

Without the distortion of the synthesizer, his voice was smooth and winsome. Conan understood why this man was so successful. Looks, charm, persuasiveness combined with cruelness can bring one pretty far.

"Tha last journey? What tha hell are ya talkin' 'bout?" Heiji asked and attracted the attention of the boss, who looked at him as if he saw him just now.

"I'm sorry – you are the son of Hattori Heizo, right? Oh yes, I know who you are. Some of my people over in Osaka had a couple of clashes with your father's men. For sure we know everything about him and his family. It's good to know your friends but much better to know your enemies," Kaneshiro said with a smug grin. "Of course you are invited too."

Conan saw how Heiji clenched his fists into the fabric of the cape he was still holding, while Kaneshiro continued.  
_'Calm down Hattori – don't do anything reckless.'_

"As you can see I'm in an awkward position. I just wanted to leave, but Vermouth insists that I should surrender – what I refuse to do. So we're kind of stuck here. She has the key for the elevator and the gun, but as long as I'm not going with her, she says she would rather die here with me than let me escape somehow. No clue why she just doesn't shoot me." He fixed Vermouth with his sharp gaze. "Qualms my dear? Didn't I teach you well to be a killer?"

"Oh – you taught me enough, but death would be much too cheap for someone like you. I want you to rot in a cell for the rest of your pathetic life," she answered disgusted.

Kaneshiro turned to the men again. "You see? It's a standoff. I won't leave and she won't shoot me, so we are going to die in the flames. And now that you are here – you will keep us company."

Standing in the doorframe Gin growled, "Vermouth you traitor bitch! I've had this feeling for some time now that you are playing foul. I'm sure you knew about the APTX all along and that you covered this dirty detective! But to raise your gun against the boss while I'm around; how stupid can one be?" The barrel of his beretta moved from Heiji to Vermouth. Now they had a delicate problem. If Vermouth would shoot Kaneshiro, she would be dead the next second; if Gin would shoot Vermouth first, there was no guaranty that her bullet wouldn't find its way into Kaneshiro's head before she dropped dead.

Kaneshiro smiled at Gin. "Ah – I knew you wouldn't fail me Gin. But you have to understand that I can't afford to be captured by the police. Due to Vermouth's efforts they know too much about me to go on. I also have no interest in a painful death. I like to decide my fate myself. I let you handle the rest in here and ask you to take care of the remaining members – if there are any left." Looking down at Conan he said, "My dear detective – I'm sorely afflicted that I won't see the light dying in your eyes, but I'm sure Gin will take care of you and your friend.  
It's time to end this pointless situation – if you excuse me?" He shoved a hand in his pocket and took out a little pill. Vermouth saw what he was up to and dashed forward with a scream. "_No!"_

Everything seemed to happen within a second. Gin shot at Vermouth to hinder her reaching his boss. She slumped to the ground; blood spread on her chest; her gun skidded over the floor and stopped at Heiji's feet, who immediately grabbed it and aimed at Gin. The boss swallowed the pill and wrapped his arms around his upper body. His face was a mask contorted with pain as he fell first on his knees and then to the ground, where after a short moment of shaking, he lay still.

Conan couldn't believe it. The man he had hunted for so long; who had destroyed so many lives, had just committed suicide to abdicate his responsibilities. The boss of the Black Castle was dead.

He had no time to ponder over this fact for too long, for there was still a very angry Gin to deal with. Heiji kept him covered for the moment what gave Conan the time to run over to Vermouth to search for the elevator key. He knelt down beside her. She was still breathing and her eyes focused on him.

"I have not much time left Shinichi," she panted. He was surprised by her using his first name, what she had never done before – not as Vermouth. But Sharon Vineyard, his mother's friend had. Maybe, even after all these years of lying, she still felt connected to Yukiko – and to her family. "Listen Shinichi! Tomorrow an envelope with a mailbox key and an address will arrive in the police department. You will find everything you need in the apartment. Act fast and you can catch them all. I didn't' plan to die in here…" She coughed and inhaled deeply before she could speak again. "I had hoped to give you this under more pleasant circumstances." Her hand slowly slid into her pocket and again a pill was the result. It was the original APTX4869 she had shown him earlier. She held it out to him and let it drop in his open hand.

He looked at it astonished. With this it'll be so much easier for Haibara to create the permanent antidote. He'll be Kudo Shinichi again – have his old live back.

Shots behind him ripped up his little daydream. _'Hattori! I have no time to space out. Vermouth is dying and we will die too, if we don't move our asses.' _

Her eyes lay still on him and a little smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Please tell Yukiko…" Conan moved closer to catch the faint words. "Tell her I'm sorry." Her glance broke and the blue eyes lost the shimmer that meant life. He took a moment to bid her goodbye. "I will tell her – Sharon."

Again a shot brought him back to the current situation. Heiji had managed to lure Gin out in the corridor. Patting Sharon's pockets frantically, Conan searched for the elevator key. "There!" He held up the silver key and after one last look at the two dead people, he sped crossed the room and peered through the ajar door.

Hattori had searched cover around the next corner and every time Gin, who stood behind an open door with his back to Conan, moved in his direction or tried to approach the room Conan was in, he sent a bullet towards the assassin. Most likely he would run out of ammunition very soon.

Conan sneaked to the near elevator and put the key into the lock. He knew the noise of the parting doors would let Gin notice him and that was his plan. The corridor formed a 'エ' here and the elevator was on the one end, while Heiji was on the other. It was very risky and before he could act, he had to make sure that Heiji knew what he was supposed to do.

The next time Heiji peeked around the corner and Gin still hid behind the door, Conan made a quick eye contact with him and gestured at his gun. Heiji raised two fingers – two bullets left. _'The distance is not that much. That'll have to do it,' _Conan thought. They exchanged a short nod.

Conan waited until Gin moved again to aim at Hattori. He turned the key and sprinted to the side where Gin couldn't shoot him easily. The elevator was still on this floor and the door parted immediately. Gin turned around to find out what caused the noise and Heiji raced down the corridor. The precious seconds he had gained due to Conan's diversion were enough to run past Gin before latter had the chance to aim at him again. Seeing the teen running to the open elevator in which Conan already waited for him, Gin sent a bullet after Heiji, who dodged it with a budo-roll and landed next to Conan.

Reaching up, Conan tried to push the button for the ground-floor, but had to withdraw his hand quickly, as a bullet hit the panel.

"Hurry up Kudo!" Heiji shouted and shot his last bullets at Gin.

"Shit! We can't go down – just up!" Conan said after a survey of the resulting damage on the panel.

"Why does this sound familiar to me?" Heiji growled, but pushed the button on top which Conan couldn't reach.

The doors closed. Both looked out of the narrowing gap at an enraged Gin, who had to watch his prey escape. He fired at the elevator nonstop now and they pressed themselves against the walls to give a target as small as possible. One bullet sizzled through the nearly closed doors and glanced off the wall. Conan slid down to the ground and protected his head with his hands.

"Ahhrg!" Heiji yelped and grabbed his right arm were the bullet had hit him.

"Hattori! Hang in there – we've almost done it!"

Before the doors finally closed, his glance was captured by Gin's expression. The man's face was ghastly distorted and his eyes glowed with insanity. It was the face of someone who saw his defeat but rejected to accept it and whose mind fell into madness. Conan shuddered.

The elevator was going up now and reached its destination just seconds later.

Conan and Heiji stepped out on the rooftop. In the middle of it was painted a big 'H' to mark the landing spot for helicopters.

"We have to block the doors with something. I don't want Gin to call the elevator down and accompany us up here," Conan said. His eyes searched the surroundings and spotted a few wooden boxes.

Keeping the doors parted with his body, he pointed at them. "Do you think you can get one of those over here?" he asked with a concerned glance at Heiji's arm. Blood stained the light-blue jacket under the clutching hand.

Heiji smiled reassuring. "It's just a scratch Kudo. No need ta worry." He went over to the boxes and pushed one between the elevator doors. Thankfully it wasn't too heavy. Although it was indeed just a scratch, it was painful to strain the arm.

Subconsciously Conan knew that he condemned Gin to death by blocking the only escape route out of the burning building. But his mind was too occupied with searching for a way to get into safety, to let this thought really sink in. Carefully he bent over the roof edge. Down on the street the police-cars flashed red lights over the walls of the surrounding buildings.

"Any chance that they will see us and send a helicopter ta pick us up?" Heiji asked from behind him, but he didn't sound like he believed it himself. They were too high up and it was starting to get dark.

Again Conan searched the rooftop. Looking down he had seen that the fire had spread widely. They had to come up with something – and better fast! Eyeing the boxes, he mused if they could contain anything useful. Something shiny behind the pile caught his attention and he pulled it out of the corner.

_'What is this? Some kind of…' _He frowned - then he laughed.

"What's so funny Kudo?" Heiji, who searched as well, asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I think now we both owe Kid something. Look!" Conan replied and unfolded a steel-frame. "Combined with the cape you've shoved under your jacket, it becomes Kid's glider. He must have deposited it here just in case he would need this escape-route."

"Eeh? The cape I…" Heiji looked down on his clothes and noticed only now that he must have put the cape there to have two free hands to shoot.

"Ya expect me ta fly with this…thin'? Yar just kiddin' right?" Under his dark skin Heiji paled.

"Either that or we can wait for the flames to burn us to death," Conan said dryly.

"True," Heiji admitted hesitantly. "So let's put this together and hope that we won't end up flat on tha concrete. Good thin' that yar small at tha moment. Don't think it's constructed ta carry two adults."

Eventually the glider was complete and they stood on the edge of the roof-top. The wind tugged at the white material like it wanted to encourage them. Conan was pressed between Heiji and the handle. He made the mistake to look down and gulped. This was _high!_ The people looked like miniature toys. More and more of them raised their heads and pointed up to them. _'No surprise with this big white triangle behind us. This must be how Kid is feeling on his heists. No – I'm sure he always enjoys it to fly with his glider instead of feeling really, really uncomfortable.' _He searched Ran in the crowd, but it was impossible to make out who was who.

Heiji's hands clutched the handle left and right from him. "Are ya ready Kudo?"

"As ready as I can be – I think."

Conan felt Heiji's chest extending in a deep breath. "No turnin' back now. Here we go!" he shouted and pushed off from the edge.

_  
**  
A/N: **Muhhahaa! Cliffhanger! Couldn't help it...again ^_^* XD  
Not much to say today - I hope you had fun with the chapter.

Thanks as well to the guest reviewers, who I couldn't contact directly.


	23. Turbulences

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter twenty-two**  
**Turbulences**  
ooOO-OOoo

It was impossible to get an overview over the place. People were running around; some of them hurt and most of them frightened. The police had a hard time to coordinate them. Additional to the employees of the pharmacy company they had to take care of, a lot of bystanders had shown up and crowded behind the black-yellow barrier tape. No one knew who was involved in the criminal affairs and who was not, so no one was allowed to leave the area except in a police-car or an ambulance.

Megure sighed and looked at the fire trucks. They tried to keep the fire at bay and watered the neighboring houses, so the flames wouldn't jump over. Strictly spoken his division wasn't in charge for such operations. He was here because he had been the one the tipster had informed and he was familiar with the persons concerned.

Watching the attempts to bring order into the chaos, he searched for some particular faces. He had given the instruction to be informed immediately, if Conan, Ran or Hattori were appearing somewhere. _'This stupid teen! To run off just like this. What's up with all of them anyway? One gets involved in such a dangerous case and decides to deal with it alone; the next follows a thief right into the headquarters of the enemy without telling anyone and the last runs into a building in which a bomb exploded. One should think them of all people know better.'_

The inspector still had some trouble to cope with the news he'd heard from this little girl, who was in fact an eighteen years old teenager. And on top even a former member of a criminal organization and an excellent scientist; what would have been astonishing by itself at this young age.

And to think of Edogawa Conan as Kudo Shinichi…it made sense, but that didn't make it less disturbing and unreal. A poison like this shouldn't exist at all. And from what he'd heard about the company so far, it wasn't the worst thing that the laboratories were burning down. _'Who knows what else they were developing in there.' _Unfortunately any other evidence will be destroyed in the fire too. But there was no use complaining about it. Highest priority right now was to get this mess straight and to find the missing kids – hopefully unharmed.

Megure shuddered as he thought of the phone call from a very enraged Mouri Kogoro, who searched for his daughter. Let him be a drunkard - when it came to Ran, he was really determined and protective. It turned out that he'd tried to call Hattori after finding the note the boy had left. When he couldn't reach him, he had guessed that the osakan would be involved in an investigation again and called Megure. After all, this kind of stuff happened all the time Hattori dropped by for a visit.

It had been a bit awkward speaking with Mouri after learning the truth about the 'sleeping Kogoro', while the man himself was still left in the dark. He'd sent out Takagi and Sato to pick him up and bring him to the hideout, where Agasa and the girl waited for the end of the takedown. He wasn't looking forward to the upcoming conversation, but he had to fill him in.

After a heated debate with Haibara, they had agreed to keep the detail of Edogawa Conan's real identity on the low. Megure had just informed Sato and Takagi by now, who had dealt with the shrunken teen most of the time. _'Since Kudo-kun most likely will be involved in future investigations with them once he is back to his real age, it will be much easier this way. After all, they know and trust Edogawa-kun and appreciate his skills. Kudo-kun, they have met just a couple of times, though they know how capable he is.'_

Megure felt a bit aggrieved that Kudo hadn't asked him for help and he wasn't happy being lied to all the time, but he understood the reasons – however tough it may be for him. He hoped Sato and Takagi would be as understanding as he was and were willing to work with the young detective. It would be a pity to waste such a talent as Kudo's.

Hopefully he wouldn't have to tell much more people about it. It was way too dangerous to let leak out that it was possible to create such a substance and if some of the higher ups would know about it, researches would be inevitable. And the risk was too high that it could fall into wrong hands. Not to mention that it would be kind of awkward for Kudo-kun, if he decided to join the police after school. But Megure saw the flaw in this plan. The interrogated scientists will maybe talk about it. _'Seems like I have to inform superintendent Matsumoto at least.'_

Another sigh escaped him. He would deal with this later. _'Now - where the heck are these troublemakers?' _

ooOO-OOoo

The same time as Megure's, a second pair of eyes searched the crowd. This one was blue and very concerned. "I can't find them! They have to be here by now if they took the other stairway," Ran said to the thief next to her.

Kid and she were plain-clothed again and shoved through the masses of people. Incredible how many employees worked for the company. She wondered how many of them actually knew what kind of man paid their wages.

"Mori-san," Kid spoke up. "It's time to bring you back to the others."

Ran looked back to the entrance in hope that Shinichi and Hattori would just emerge. "But Shinichi…" "Will do exactly the same as soon as they come out," Kid cut in.  
"It's futile trying to find anybody here, so we are using Megure-keibu's position as a meeting point. I'm sure Meitantei-san and Tantei-han will come to the same conclusion. Besides we have to report to him what happened in there anyway."

She nodded and Kid managed to cut a way through the crowd for them with seemingly no difficulties. After a few minutes they reached the inspector, who showed a huge relief at their sight. "Kaitou Kid, I assume?" he asked the unknown young man, who led Mouri Ran to him.

"It's a pleasure meeting you Megure-keibu," the thief answered with an elaborated deep bow, at which the inspector raised a brow. He wasn't used to the thief's ways and felt slightly uncomfortable in his presence. After all he _was_ a searched criminal.

They gave him a summary of the recent events, whereas Ran's description clearly focused on Shinichi's well-being, while Kid was able to outline everything from a more observing point of view. Megure was worried in which state of health Kudo might be and that no one had seen him or Hattori so far.

"Anyway, I'll call Sato-san to pick you up and bring you to your father. He is worried out of his mind," Megure said to Ran and already waited for the connection.  
"No way! I can't…" she began.

Murmurs arose around them and spread fast. Heads lifted and fingers pointed at something above. Irritated the three looked up, as a well-known shouting set in. "Kid! Kid! Kid!" the crowd chanted. And really – on top of the building, Kid's white glider stood out against the darkening sky. Ran felt the thief tensing just a wee bit next to her; his poker face still in place.

"Binoculars!" Megure demanded and looked through the lenses. He inhaled sharply. "It's Hattori-kun and Conan-kun is with him."

This sentence took a weight off Ran's mind, just to be replaced by another one. "They are not going to jump, are they?" she asked anxiously.

"I'm afraid that is indeed their intention Mouri-san," Kid answered her. His voice was a mix of deadpan humor, curiosity and concern. How she wished it would have been just the first two emotions. She looked up at the silhouette of the white glider and clasped her hands in front of her chest.

"Tell the ambulance to get ready!" came an order from Megure again. The people around them didn't seem to notice that something was at fault as they cheered on for their gentleman thief. The shouting whirled through Ran's mind until it was an indefinable noise. Her eyes stuck on what she could make out from the glider, Hattori and Conan.

They jumped.

Her body went numb.

They fell.

Her heart stopped.

The wind caught under the glider and pushed them up again.

She let out a breath she hadn't been aware holding.

The world around her came back with might. Now everyone had figured out that this was clearly _not_ Kaitou Kid. The unsteady flight was proof enough. The glider swayed dangerously back and forth, sunk a few meters and went up again.

"Turbulences," Kid cursed. "Keibu! With this wind they won't make it far and I'm not sure if they could land the glider safely even under best conditions. The wind blows from south, so they are drifting to the park."

Megure nodded and gave further instructions. "Send an ambulance over there. Kid, come with me. We keep up with them. Maybe you can give them instructions for the landing."

"I'll come too!" Ran declared.

"No," Megure refused. "Sato-san will be here any minute. She can drive you to your father or to the hospital if needed." His voice allowed no back talk. Ran lowered her head and clenched her fists. Megure felt sorry for her. "We will take care of them," he said softer. "They will be alright." He really hoped he could keep his promise.

ooOO-OOoo

"Next turn left!" Kid commanded. "Left? But…" Megure started and was interrupted by the thief on the passenger seat. "Believe me. I've studied this district very thoroughly. They are still flying to the park and this street is a short cut. We better be there before they are or I will be no help at all."

"Alright! Cling on tight!" Megure said and stepped on the gas. The sirens cleared their way as they sped through the city, followed by a further police car.

Kid always kept one eye up to the glider and even leaned out of the window in attempt not to lose them when they had to take an inconveniently turn due to the road conditions. "They are losing height," he informed Megure. "I hope they will reach the park before they are too deep or they'll have to maneuver through the houses." Megure winced at that comment and dissipated the thought of a glider crashing into a building.

"There," Kid pointed out. "The entrance to the park. We made it in time." They drove through the gates at high speed and came to a halt on the widest clearing they could find. Kid jumped out of the car and searched the sky for his white glider. Who would have thought that his choice of color would be so useful one day? The floodlights of the police-cars marked the landing place as good as possible.

The two neared and just made it over the first treetops; trundling after the almost contact. Kid grabbed the megaphone Megure handed to him and hoped with this his voice could be heard over the wind. He knew it could be kind of loud up there. "Tantei-han! Lean to the right – and make sure you are shifting your legs as well. You have to fly circles to phase out your height," Kid's amplified voice resounded through the air.

He waited until he could see that Hattori was following his instructions and nodded. This could really work out. Behind him he heard the ambulance arriving.

"Turn against the wind with your last circle. Shortly before you reach the ground, push the handle forward. If you miss the ideal moment, you have to run." Kid lowered the megaphone and watched the sinking glider with a frown. "Something is wrong. He doesn't seem to be able leaning to the right hard enough. Keibu, do you have the binoculars with you?"

Megure handed him the required and the thief looked up again. "Damn! He's right arm is injured. This is going to be a crash landing. Step back everyone!"

They vacated the clearing just in time. After a last swerving, the glider and his two passengers crashed to the ground. The aluminium frame gave in and broke with a screaking noise as they rolled over several times. In a mess of burst rods and shredded sailcloth they finally came to a dead stop.

* * *

**A/N: Finally they are on the ground again, but I'm sure they hoped for a more gentle landing... *whistle innocently***

**Yeay! With the last chapter the story reached amazingly over 150 reviews! You are AWESOME! So this chapter goes out to you! (Kind pf pointless, because every chapter somehow goes out you...hmm...anyway I thought this would be nice XD)**


	24. Waiting and hoping

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters and concepts! They all belong to Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

**Chapter twenty-three**  
**Waiting and hoping**  
ooOO-OOoo

_Flashback_

Heiji's hands clutched the handle left and right from him. "Are ya ready Kudo?"

"As ready as I can be – I think."

Conan felt Heiji's chest extending in a deep breath. "No turnin' back now. Here we go!" he shouted and pushed off from the edge.

_Flashback end_

For a second nothing seemed to happen. They were hanging in midair – the cheering crowd beneath them.  
_'Are they really cheerin' for that thief right now? One should think, with tha fire and all that they have other things in mind.'_

The second was over and now everything Heiji could think of was the rapidly approximating ground. They were falling. Fast!

How could the same time span once feel like a second and once like eternities? _'I knew it – this was a stupid idea!' _Heiji shut his eyes, not willing to know how much time was left before he would be dead.

"Ouch! Aho!" he shouted, when he felt Conan kicking at him. The wind snatched away his words as soon as they were out. _'Tha wind! Conan's right – We won't give up that easily.' _With new determination he tried to steady the glider. He had never used something like this before and all he could do was leaning left and right to try out what might work.

There! He felt how a gust of wind caught under the wings and they were dragged up again. Heiji's stomach was turning. _'This is worse than every rollercoaster I've ever been ta.' _

It was a useless attempt trying to influence their flight course. It was hard enough to control the swaying and to stop the up and down. The wind chose the direction and Heiji followed as good as possible, hoping that they would find a landing place soon. _'Landing place? Oh good – I have ta bring this thin' down without killin' us, or we could have jumped without a glider from tha start.' _

"Are ya ok Kudo?" he shouted into Conan's ear. The boy nodded. Heiji felt his tension and a slightly trembling from his whole body. _'How long can he pull through? He must be more than exhausted.' _His hands gripped the handle harder. Down on the streets he saw the awakening neon-signs of the city, what would have been a pretty sight – in other circumstances. Some of the bright spots were moving and he recognized the flickering lights of two police-cars and an ambulance escorting their flight.

Ahead he could make out a darker area. _'Must be a park or somethin' like that. At least it seems ta be an empty area.'_ Looking down again he cursed. The buildings were much closer than before. He wanted to be back on the ground again, but not right here and now! '_What we need is some upwind.'_

The police-cars entered the park and came to a halt. The floodlights illuminated a clearing. _'That's where I'm supposed ta land.' _Heiji thought. Suddenly he was aware that the treetops were dangerously near. "Shit!" He shifted his weight. The glider answered with a violent trundling. He struggled to regain some control. A wary glance downward showed that they would make it just above the highest branches. _'Hell - that was close!'_

A person ran to the middle of the clearing; raising something to his mouth. "Tantei-han! Lean to the right – and make sure you are shifting your legs as well. You have to fly circles to phase out your height."

The words were a bit difficult to understand over the howling wind in his ears. _'Tantei-han? Must be Kid then.' _What a relief! Not only that he knew now that the thief and Ran were in safety, he couldn't think of a better person to help him with the landing. After all this was _his_ glider. _'Ta tha right? Ok – let's do this.'_

He had to lean more to the side than before if he wanted the glider to fly a circle and not only a corner. Putting more and more pressure onto his right arm, he felt a sharp pain shooting up to his shoulder. Heiji gritted his teeth. This was not the time to cry over such a silly little wound.

"Turn against the wind with your last circle. Shortly before you reach the ground, push the handle forward. If you miss the ideal moment, you have to run," the thief's voice reached his ears again. _'Ideal moment? I wouldn't mind running through tha whole damn park, if we just land somehow.'_

His body thought he had to remind him that even if it was a scratch, it was still a bullet wound and intensified the pain, combined with a starting numbness. He couldn't do anything about it. As hard as he tried – there was not enough strength in his arm to steer the glider as he wanted. The glider swerved and bucked. Heiji had no idea if they were with or against the wind. All he knew was that this would be their last shaky circle, before they would hit the ground. There was no chance doing a proper landing. Just seconds before the impact, he let go of the handle and wrapped his arms around Conan's small body to protect him. _'This will hurt!' _was his last thought, before he felt the ground beneath his feet, just to be upside down in the next moment. The world swirled around them in a screaking, blue-red blinking kaleidoscope. He heard Conan yelp in pain and joined his outcry, as his already injured arm bumped hard against something and he had to let go of Conan.

After what felt like hundreds of hurting tumbles, they lay still.

Heiji felt shattered. His body ached all over and his arm was killing him. Slowly he raised his head and used his left arm to prop himself up a bit. The floodlights blinded him and worsened his emerging headache. People came running up to them. "Wasn't tha smoothest landin', but I think we made it, huh?" he said with a shaky voice. When he received no answer, he frowned with concern and looked over to Conan. "Kudo?" His friend didn't move. He lay on his back – his pale face covered with blood, oozing out of a nasty head wound on his right temple. "Kudo!"

ooOO-OOoo

Waiting. She hated waiting. Yet still this was what she had to do time and again. Waiting for Shinichi to come home or at least give her a call. Waiting for Conan to wake up after he'd been shot. Waiting again for him to wake up after the tennis-racket incident. Waiting in the hideout for any news about him and now she waited for this little lamp to go out to show her that the surgery was over.

Yes, she waited all the time - and she hoped. She had hoped for Shinichi to come home safely; to hear his voice. Had hoped that her 'little brother' would be alright. Had hoped that Shinichi would be found soon and hoped that when the lamp finally would stop mocking her with its bright light, the operation had been a success.

She glanced at her watch. _'3.45 in the morning.' _She sighed deeply and eyed the other occupants in the waiting area. On the chair next to her sat her father – sleeping. _'Mou – how can he be tired again after sleeping the whole day?' _

He had been frantic when he was brought to the hospital by Takagi and had examined every howsoever small scratch on her. She assured him that it was nothing. Just a few bruises and burns plus a little smoke intoxication, which most of the people displayed who had been in the burning building. She didn't even need to stay at the hospital overnight.

With him also came Agasa and Ai. The hakase watched over the little girl, who was gazing into space. She hadn't said a single word since her arrival; just climbed a seat and stayed there.

No one from the police was present at the moment. Ran had given her statement to Sato after they'd arrived at the hospital. The female detective had decided to bring Ran here to undergo a complete medical check-up – just in case.

_Flashback_

Ran had just left the treatment room and headed to the exit to call her father, when she saw an ambulance arriving in full speed. Her gut twisted. _'Don't be ridiculous Ran. This is a hospital. Ambulances are arriving here all the time.' _She tried to shrug off the uneasy feeling, but the lump of ice that had formed in her stomach refused to melt. It was like in the hideout when she'd felt something dragging her out to help Shinichi. Just like then she couldn't ignore it now neither and ran to the emergency area.

She wasn't allowed to enter before she had been identified as a relative of one of the patients. "My name is Mouri Ran. I think Shin...my little brother has just been brought in. His name is Edogawa Conan," she rattled down for the nurse at the reception desk. She clung to the desk so hard that her knuckles turned white, while she waited for the nurse to find the information in her computer. "Ah, you are right. He's just been signed in with the last ambulance. Go through the door over there and have a seat please. We will inform you as soon as we have the results from his examination."

She did as asked and went to the waiting area in front of the surgery rooms. She was so afraid. What had happened? Just her will to be there for Conan if anything occurred, prevented her from collapsing right there and then.

Sato showed up again, after she had left Ran to contact Megure and Takagi. She told Ran what had happened in the park just in broad outlines, so she won't frighten the girl any further.

Hattori had been brought in shortly after Conan by Megure, who had to leave again to supervise the takedown further and Sato followed him. Hattori's injuries hadn't been minor, but not so worse that he needed to undergo surgery. A sprained ankle, bruises and cuts all over and a mild concussion. His right arm needed the most attention. During the crash landing he had rolled hard over one of the burst rods and broke the arm right above the elbow. Fortunately the joint itself hadn't been harmed or it would have limited his kendo abilities. If he rested properly and didn't strain his arm for a few weeks, the doctor was positive that he would heal up completely. Ran was allowed to visit him for a few minutes and he gave her some more detailed information about the flight and what had happened afterwards. He didn't know in what condition Conan was – just that he had been unconscious when he'd seen him last.

Kid had vanished soon after the ambulance had left with Conan. He hadn't been injured as far as Ran remembered, so there was no need for him to show up at the hospital. Maybe he was also a bit unsure how far the agreement 'Nobody will arrest Kaitou Kid' went on, after the job was done. She couldn't blame him. She was more than thankful for his help.

Hattori had mentioned that the thief had looked rather unhappy at the sight of his shredded and burst glider, what caused Ran to giggle. She knew very well that Hattori tried to lighten her mood a bit and gave in more than willingly.

The worries came back soon enough, as she closed the door to his room to let him rest and went down to the waiting area again.

_Flashback end_

And here she had been since then – waiting.

She sighed. Was there a limitation how often one could sigh per day? If there was one, she was sure that she must have exceeded hers already and the day had just begun.

_'Pling' _

Ran's head shot up. The light was out. Finally!

With a humming sound the doors opened automatically and two nurses rolled a bed out in the corridor. A doctor in green clothes under his white coat followed.

Ran jumped to her feet, what startled her father. She ran to the bed, just to be held by the two strong arms of the doctor. "Whow – calm down please. You can visit him in a while. He is stable now. Just let the nurses set up everything in his room first," he said soothingly.

She nodded absently. Her eyes never left the small body on the bed until he was out of her sight. The breathing mask and the white bandages around his head and arms burned into her mind. _'So fragile – so small.' _Her heart convulsed painfully.

Ran just stood there. She jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder "Ran?" She turned around to face her father. Her answer was hoarse and weak. "I'm ok. He will be ok." She cleared her throat and straightened. Her glance wandered to the doctor and over his name tag. "Please Hirata-sensei – can you tell us about his condition?" Agasa and Ai neared now too. The girl's eyes were no longer blank. Ran could see the mind of an adult working behind the blue irises.

"As I said before, he is stable now," Hirata began. "His condition had been critical when he'd been brought in. Although his injuries could be fixed without noteworthy problems, both his body and mind seemed to be exhausted to a point where his system just shut down. We had to reanimate him once, after he reacted against the pain medication we gave him."

Ran inhaled sharply. _'Two reanimations within less than twelve hours. Have they seen…Stupid – of course they have!'_

Hirata looked at them scrutinizing. "We found burn marks on his chest of a not long ago reanimation. And it hadn't been done with medical care. Can anyone of you tell me what exactly happened to him?"

Agasa answered him hesitantly. "He…was involved in the fire you might have heard of. I'm afraid I can't give you many details without the permission of Megure-keibu."

Hirata didn't seem satisfied, but left it at that. Of course he knew about the fire. Several patients had arrived within the last few hours. If an ongoing police operation was concerned, there was not much he could do for now. "Anyway – besides this we fixed two fractured ribs, treated his cuts and bruises and stitched up the head wound. It's likely that he will stay unconscious for a while due to the concussion, but the risk of a coma is pretty low."

The tension in the air remitted at his words. "Still, we have the problem with the pain medication. We didn't dare giving him anything more than a light sedative. We are running blood tests right now, but they will take some time. So any information about what exactly had been administered to him previously would be much appreciated."

Kogoro nodded and took out his cell phone. "I'll try to contact Megure-keibu about that."

"Thank you. For the rest of you: Please don't visit him all together and be quiet in his room. He needs to rest. You can ask his room number at the reception desk. The nurses should be done by now. If you have any questions, ask them or tell them to call me out." Hirata bowed and took his leave.

Ran's thoughts raced at the meantime. _'The clipboard! Maybe the data on it are what he needs. I left it in Sato-san's car.' _She ran after her father to go to an area where cell-phones were allowed, leaving behind a baffled Agasa and a curious Ai. She barely made it through the doors, as she waited for the connection already. "Sato-san? Yes – it's Ran. Where are you right now?...Can you come back to the hospital please? I left something in your car and I need it really badly…Thank you! I'll wait at the main entrance. See you soon!"

She pocketed her phone and headed to the main entrance. _'I hope it's true what they say about Sato-san's driving abilities. I don't want Shinichi to be in pain any longer. He had endured enough.'_

* * *

**A/N:** So, here you got Hattori's point of view and again some of Ran's thoughts and feelings.

I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for your ongoing support! :D

**EDIT: As (finally) my vacation time is near, the next chapter will take a little longer, because I'll have no computer/internet within reach. But for sure I will find the time to plot the next chapters, so as soon as I'm back, it shouldn't be too long till the update. **

**Sorry to keep you waiting, but I hope you understand :-***


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